


Smells like Teen Spirit

by ShootiNgSt4r



Series: Boyz with Fun (Shadowhunter BTS) [1]
Category: Mamamoo, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Action/Adventure, Demons, Exo are werewolves, Fluff, Kim Seokjin | Jin & Kim Taehyung | V Are Brothers, Mild Language, Multi, Parabatai Bond, Platonic vmin is life, Shadowhunter AU, Shadowhunters - Freeform, Sungjae and Taehyung are bathroom friends, Swearing, There's A Tag For That, Vampires, Vmin are parabatai, Werewolves, Wow, and Solar is their sister, brief chanbaek, but not too much, except Jackson obviously, is there a ship name for them, jungkook and yugyeom are friends, namjin - Freeform, or jung jung couple, other idols make an appearance, shadowhunters got7, slight angst, taekook, tokyo shadowhunters BTOB, warlock!Jackson, warlock!namjoon, wheein & hwasa are parabatai, wheeseok, yoonmin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-01 15:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10193309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShootiNgSt4r/pseuds/ShootiNgSt4r
Summary: Kim Taehyung is bored, and that never ends well.He overhears Yoongi and Solar discussing some demon problem, and decides that he and his long suffering Parabatai Jimin would be perfect for the job.Or: The Shadowhunter AU where Tae and Jimin are Parabatai and always get into trouble.





	1. I feel stupid and contagious

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the title is from a song (obviously) because the lyrics are, like,  
> Load up on guns and bring your friends  
> [...]  
> I feel stupid and contagious  
> Here we are now, entertain us  
> [...]  
> Our little group has always been and always will until the end  
>    
> This fic is alllll about PARABATAI VMIN because platonic soulmates Vmin is the BEST  
> and if there was a parabatai system in real life I bet they'd sign up in a heartbeat.  
> Edit: it USED to be a parabatai vmin fic. Now it's more of a general shadowhunter BTS fic cuz I decided to make the fic longer :)  
>   
> I don't own anything: the Shadowhunter world and the Mortal Instruments series belong to Cassandra Clare only.  
>   
> And I know Mamamoo is getting a lot of hate recently, but I wrote this BEFORE that Blackface fiasco, and besides, they're still my favourite girl group so I kept them in.  
> EXO appear briefly as a werewolf pack (I love werewolf!exo) and I added me some good ol' Chanbaek cuz they're my OTP in Exo along with Kaisoo.

The sun was setting on Seoul. Tiny lights flickered on all over the skyline, lighting up the bustling city. The ever-present sounds of cars, the snatches of music blaring from inside the many boutiques, and the low buzz of conversation formed a comforting symphony in the background, reassuring the world of the presence of so many people.

In the midst of all this bustle, in a slightly quieter corner of Gangnam, stood a tall, seemingly abandoned old building. None of the people passing by gave it a second glance, their eyes simply gliding disinterestedly from the office building on its right to the small flower shop on its left. Yet, to those with the ability to see through the glamour, the building was anything but decrepit. Behind the facade stood a handsome, majestic edifice, all polished white stone and carved wood. The building was a masterpiece of architecture. The words "Seoul Institute" were etched about the huge double doors, delicately carved runes weaving intricate patterns around them.

Deep inside the Institute, in a room filled with warm, sunset-red light, sat a young boy surrounded by books. Curled up in a well-cushioned window seat, the boy chewed thoughtfully on the tip of his pen, frowning down at the sheet of paper filled with scratched-out scribbles. The orange glow that lit him up from behind made him look like an angel. His soft, pastel pink hair was the colour of candyfloss, flopping down over his eyes. His cheeks were adorably round and his cute babyish face was a stark contrast to his toned, well-muscled body. He wore a fluffy oversized cardigan over the standard black clothing that was typical of Shadowhunter gear, long sleeves pulled down over his hands to form sweater paws. Numerous books were spread open around him, showing sketches of werewolves and vampires, strange looking creatures and lethal looking weapons.

He sighed abruptly, throwing his pen down and rubbing at his tired eyes with a small fist.

It was all Taehyung's fault, he thought darkly. Every stupid prank, every reckless adventure that they had ever gotten into trouble for, was a result of some crazy idea or other that his best friend managed to drag him into. He loved Taehyung more than anything - he was his other half, his brother in-arms, his _Parabatai_ \- but all of Taehyung's crazy antics just seemed to land them in more and more trouble. Even this essay he was trying to write had been given as punishment for their last escapade - and Taehyung had just abandoned him to deal with it, the little shit. Jimin was of half a mind to simply refuse to write another word and force Taehyung to finish off the rest. He wondered briefly where his Parabatai was. Knowing Tae, he was probably in the kitchen, making the most out of Seokjin's absence to stuff his face with anything sweet he could lay his hands on.

Jimin's theory wasn't actually that far off. Taehyung was, in fact, on his way to the kitchen to do just that, but he'd been distracted on his way by the litter of kittens he'd smuggled home the week before. The mother cat rubbed her head on his calves, purring contentedly while around her the energetic little kittens tumbled over each other. He was in love - the tiniest one with a fluffy white tummy and silver and grey stripes was his favourite. It reminded him of Jimin, he decided, and set off down the long and empty hallway, cradling little Jiminnie in his arms. The Institute was uncharacteristically quiet, he mused, humming a little tune to himself to fill the silence. Normally the halls would be filled with sound, laughter bouncing off the walls. A total of 9 Shadowhunters currently lived in the Seoul Institute, and 7 of them were naturally hyper and upbeat, which meant that there was never a day that passed without some incident or the other. Seokjin was out, though - fulfilling his role as Head of the Institute. He was in Idris, visiting the Shadowhunter Academy in occasion of the graduation ceremony of its students. He was supposed to bring a new recruit back with him, and Taehyung was super excited to have a new face around. Namjoon had gone with him, as the High Warlock of Seoul, and Taehyung had had a great time teasing his older brother about his not-so-secret crush on the dashing warlock. He wasn't sure where the others were. Yoongi was probably off napping somewhere, and he had left Jimin in the smaller study, which they used as their headquarters. Hwasa and Wheein had mentioned something about a hands-on botany lesson Moonbyul was planning for them, so they might have gone to the mountains to study the various plants.

"Looks like we're all alone, Jiminnie," he cooed softly to the tiny kitten, who simply yawned and butted its head against the boy's chest. He smiled widely, melting inside at the show of affection. He was covering the top of its tiny little head with kisses when he heard his sister's voice, raised in annoyance and frustration. Carefully, he snuck up to the room he heard her voice coming from, and leaned in slightly to peek through the slightly open doors. His older sister, Kim Yongsun, or Solar, as she preferred to be called, was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring down at someone on the couch.

"-more people dead," she was saying irritably. "The werewolf pack is worried, you know they aren't the best against Elapid demons. We should do something about it before things get out of hand." There was an unintelligible mutter from the person on the couch, who, Taehyung surmised, must be Yoongi, judging from the grumpy sounds he was making. Hoseok would never sound like that.

"Why me?" Yoongi grumbled. "Take Hobi or the kids with you. I really can't be bothered right now."

Solar sighed, nostrils flaring. "You know Hobi doesn't like dark crowded places, Yoongi. Moon Byulyi and the girls are out on a trip, and Seokjin isn't here either. The boys are on house arrest. It's just you and me left. Besides, I'm not sure the boys would be able to handle them, even if they weren't being punished." Taehyung flamed up at that. How dare she think they weren't good enough? He seethed. He wasn't a baby any longer, but his older brother and sister always insisted on babying him, treating him like a _kid_. He pressed closer to the door, an idea simmering in his head.

"Fine," Yoongi grumbled, "I'll go. Where are those damn demons anyway?"

"I'm not exactly sure yet, but Joonmyun said he'd take us there if we needed him to. They've set up their nest close to the werewolves' headquarters, apparently, and it's freaking him out."

"Alright, but not right now. I'm exhausted. Besides, it's late and I'm not tackling anything at night. Let's go tomorrow."

Solar frowned. "I have a meeting with the leader of the local vampire clan tomorrow at lunch. We'll have to wait 'till tomorrow evening."

"Ah, the infamous Kwon Jiyong, huh?" Yoongi drawled, sitting up. Taehyung could see his head, now. "Surprising. I didn't think he was your type."

Solar flushed. "Shut up," she sputtered. "I'm only meeting him because Seokjinnie isn't here. Don't get the wrong idea." Yoongi merely grinned lazily.

"What about you?" she retaliated. "When are _you_ gonna man up and confess?"

Yoongi's grin disappeared in a flash. "What do you mean," he snapped.

"Don't act dumb, Yoongi, we both know who we're talking about. Seriously, though, you should make a move. It's obvious he likes you too, so what's holding you back?"

Yoongi's jaw locked, and he looked positively furious. Solar sighed and sat down beside him on the couch, while Taehyung looked on, shocked by the unexpected information. Thoughts flew around his head, confusing him. Yoongi was gay? or bi, whatever. He'd had absolutely no idea. He himself was gay, and the others all knew about it. They'd been nothing but supportive, but Yoongi had never hinted at also preferring guys over girls. Thanks to Alec Lightwood and his boyfriend Magnus Bane, homosexuality had slowly become much more accepted in the shadowhunter community, and more and more Nephilim were coming out these days. He was jolted out of his thoughts by Solar's soothing voice.

"You do know that no one here will have a problem with it if you came out to them, right?" she murmured, wrapping an arm around Yoongi warmly. "Besides, you aren't even the only one, or even the first, in this Institute, so I really don't see what the problem is."

Slowly, Taehyung backed away. This wasn't a conversation he should be eavesdropping on, he decided, although he was more than a little curious about who it was that Yoongi liked. Stroking little Jiminnie's head, he headed quietly to the kitchen. The Elapid demons though, he ruminated, were a different case entirely. He was positive Jimin and he could totally handle a few measly demons on their own, no matter what Solar thought. He was angry that his sister thought so little of him, and was determined to prove her wrong. What if they took care of the demons before Yoongi and Solar did? he thought, humming excitedly. The werewolves knew where the demon hideout was, and he was sure one of his werewolf friends would tell him where it was with just a little convincing. Now, all that was left was to convince Jimin...

\---------------------------------------

"No. Absolutely not," Jimin said flatly, face blank. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, polishing his beloved twin knives.

"Aww, come on ChimChim," Taehyung whined, pawing at Jimin's back from where he was sprawled out on the bed behind him.

" _No_ , Tae," Jimin repeated firmly. "Remember why we're grounded in the first place?"

Taehyung pouted. "I still think Seokjinnie hyung overreacted," he grumbled.

Jimin rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, he totally overreacted to you getting drunk off your ass and trying to jump off the roof wearing a freaking batman cape and yelling 'Behold, Gotham! Kim Taehyung, the greatest Shadowhunter of all time!'. Honestly Tae, if Jongin hyung and Kyungsoo hyung hadn't been there to help me you'd have been a Taehyung-shaped pancake on the sidewalk by now. I really don't know why I let you drag me into your crazy schemes." He slammed the knife he was holding back into its sheath. "And before that, remember when you had that wonderful idea to _go make friends with the vampires_ and almost got us both drained of blood? Not to mention almost breaking the Accords! I was _this_ close to getting bitten, and if Kwon Jiyong hadn't stopped them in time because he'd promised Joonie hyung not to harm 'stupid, reckless underage Nephilim', we'd be vampires already."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry already," Taehyung yelped, holding up both hands in surrender. "I just thought it was unfair that my sister thinks we're incapable of killing a few measly demons on our own." He pouted again, putting on his best puppy eyes. "Come on, ChimChim~ It would be easy; you and me make a great team, remember? And I'm _bored_ , Chim," he whined loudly. Then, he got a glint in his eye and sat up, grinning evilly. "Besides," he said slyly, "I got some quality information about Yoongi hyung that I know you'd be thrilled to hear..."

Jimin paused in his polishing, ears practically pricking up, intrigued. "About Yoongi hyung?" he asked tentatively.

 _Gotcha_. Taehyung grinned madly. "Oh, no, I think I'm suffering from short term memory loss!" he shrieked dramatically, flinging his forearm over his eyes and miming a faint. "If _only_ we could go hunt some demons, I think the exercise would stimulate my mind enough that I'll be able to remember just what exactly it was that I'd overheard!" He swooned, fanning his face with one hand. Jimin looked ready to kill him for a second. Taehyung waited patiently.

" _Fine!_ " Jimin snapped finally, giving in. "I'll go with you."

"Yayyy!!!" Taehyung squealed, engulfing Jimin in a huge hug. "You're the best, Chim!"

"Whatever," Jimin grumbled. "Gerroff me, I'm suffocating." He shoved the taller boy off him, smiling slightly despite himself. He was a sucker for Taehyung, he knew. He could never win against his cuteness.

"Alright, so we'll go first thing tomorrow morning, 'kay?" Taehyung was already planning their mission. "I'll text Baekhyunnie hyung and ask him to lead us to the demon hideout. He owes me a favor, anyway."

"What exactly do Elapid demons look like, anyway?" Jimin wondered, reaching for one of the books on his bedside table and flipping through it rapidly. "Elapid demons... Ah hah! Here they are. Ugh. Ugly looking things, aren't they?" he showed Taehyung the sketch he'd found. "Elapid demons are massive, snake-headed creatures with thick, scaled bodies," he read out loud. "Their bodies are jointed, insectile, and have a dozen skittering legs that end in jagged claws. Their heads are hooded and their neck flattens out like a cobra's. Yellow venom drips from their fangs, and their black-green ichor burns whatever it touches." He looked up thoughtfully. "We'd better wear protective gear for the ichor, and bring some Witchstone too, to light up the place. You said it was underground, right?"

Taehyung hummed an affirmation, concentrated on texting Baekhyun. "Okay! Baek says he and Chanyeol hyung will meet us in front of the Dunkin' Donuts near the werewolf headquarters tomorrow at 10!" he cheered triumphantly. 

"Let's go kick some demon ass!"


	2. Load up on guns and bring your friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! This chapter is horribly short sorry :'( I thought it would be better to just post this first, instead of waiting until I found the time to write more, so here it is..! ^^ I'll update again pretty soon! Thanks for reading :)

The day was sunny and refreshingly cool. Jimin and Taehyung slipped out of the Institute, all marked up and ready for battle. Jimin wore his signature twin knives on his back, the sheaths arranged like an X across his body. Small throwing knives were tucked in the front of his gear, all sorts of blades were hidden all over his body and his stele was strapped to his leg. Taehyung carried a bow and a sheath of arrows was strapped to his back, a dagger tucked into his boot and various other weapons tucked in every nook and cranny. Both of them were invisible to mundanes as they slipped through the crowd, heading towards the Dunkin' Donuts on the corner of the street.

Two young men sat at a table in front of the shop, the smaller making short work of a box of delicious looking donuts. He had a small, pixie like face, mischievous eyes twinkling above the powdered donut he was currently inhaling. Across the table, Chanyeol slurped on his iced macchiato, a half eaten muffin in his hand. He was visibly taller than the other, even sitting down, and his large ears stuck out from under the snapback perched on his curly hair. The pair soon spotted the younger boys making their way towards them, and greeted them with eager waves.

"Hey, Baek hyung, Chanyeol hyung," Taehyung chirped, giving both a big hug. Jimin simply gave each a bright smile, sitting down next to Baekhyun and sneaking a chocolate covered donut from the box. Baekhyun slapped his hand away indignantly, mumbling a protest through a mouth stuffed full of sugary goods.

"So, where is it?" Taehyung asked brightly, getting straight to the point. Chanyeol frowned worriedly.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" he asked. "We'd come with you if we could, but Joonmyun hyung doesn't know we're here, and he'd throw a hissy fit if he knew we told you two where the demons are."

"Don't worry, hyung," Taehyung laughed. "We're the ultimate pair! A couple of measly demons are no match for us."

Baekhyun sighed and stood up, swallowing the rest of his huge mouthful.

"Alright, follow us then." he led the way, leading the others through the bright crowded streets to darker, quieter alleyways. Blank windows stared down at them from the buildings surrounding them, and Jimin had to repress a shudder. "It's down here," Baekhyun told them, pointing down some steps leading to a dark doorway. "There's a whole abandoned place down there. I think it was supposed to become an arcade, but it got ditched before it could even open."

"Ok, thanks, hyung." Jimin slid out a seraph blade and started down the stairs.

"You're sure you'll be okay?" Baekhyun asked again, biting his lips nervously.

"Sure, hyung. Don't worry so much," Taehyung answered breezily, following Jimin down the stairs. "See ya later, hyung!" he grinned up at them before disappearing through the dark doorway.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun glanced at each other.

"Baek..." Chanyeol muttered. "They'll be alright, won't they?"

Baekhyun was silent, chewing on his lower lip. Chanyeol reached out, and tugged at his chin gently. "Don't, Baek, you'll start bleeding."

Baekhyun heaved a sigh. "I don't like it," he said finally. "But if we tell the Institute, Tae will never talk to me again..." he pouted.

"How 'bout we _'let slip'_ to someone from our pack about what those two are up to?" Chanyeol suggested, face brightening. "Then they can be the ones to tell the Institute and the kids might blame us less?"

Baekhyun cocked his head thoughtfully. "Hmm... that might work... although that means we'll get horribly scolded for helping them once Joonmyun finds out..."

"It's better than them dying," Chanyeol said firmly, leading Baekhyun out to the main street.

\-----------------------

Jimin stepped carefully through the abandoned arcade, senses on full alert. He held a witchstone in one hand, a seraph blade held ready in the other. He glanced at his bracelet, which was pulsing gently. It was a sensor, in the form of a big round opal set in a thick leather strap. Behind him, Taehyung placed witchstones at regular intervals on the ground, illuminating the dark place. He held his dagger ready, on the lookout for a good vantage point where he could cover Jimin's back with his bow and arrows. The place was dark and silent, the sound of water dripping coming from somewhere deep inside the arcade.

Jimin paused suddenly, ears straining for the faint sound he had caught seconds before. Taehyung slipped out his bow and and strung it expertly, also listening intently.

In the darkness in front of them, a faint rustling and hissing could be heard. The boys tensed, exchanging quick glances. Their Parabatai bond and their close friendship allowed them to communicate entirely through glances and small gestures. Taehyung slipped another few witchstones out of his pocket while Jimin pocketed his and slid out his twin knives. They then split up, Taehyung heading for a smell ledge against the wall that he planned to shoot from, while Jimin continued forward. The witchstones that Taehyung held were scattered round on his way to the ledge, providing Jimin with enough light to see without holding one himself. The sounds grew louder and Jimin was on high alert, when suddenly a demon darted out from the far corner of the room, lunging at him.

Jimin jerked back, one of the snake-headed demon's deadly looking long fangs narrowly missing him. He slashed through it immediately, dodging the spray of deadly ichor. Another darted out of the darkness only to be struck down by three arrows in quick succession. He grinned. He was starting to forgive Taehyung for dragging him out. He loved fighting, it was what Shadowhunters were programmed for and he was good at it. Glad for the chance to stretch his muscles, he slashed away, carefully sidestepping the dangerous pools of ichor. He weaved through the swarm of demons, slashing, stabbing, hacking off clawed legs and slicing through the toughened skin. To Taehyung, who was up on his ledge shooting any demons that Jimin missed and stabbing any that got too close to him for comfort, he looked almost like he was performing a fierce, deadly dance through the abandoned arcade.

More and more demons appeared, however, and eventually the Shadowhunters realized with sinking hearts that these weren't just _'a few measly demons'_ \- this was a whole pack of huge, dangerous demons, that outnumbered them by almost a dozen to one.


	3. Our little group has always been

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Namjoon's purple hair in Not Today is my aesthetic.... *Sigh*  
> I also got the Ascension vow from ANGELS TWICE DESCENDING by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman, which is the 10th (and last) book in the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy Series.  
> And Jimin's my bias, but Yoongi just makes me swoon everytime and Shadowhunter Yoongi is just... Wow. hahah. Just Wow.

Yoongi stretched lazily, blinking slowly like a large cat. He leapt lightly onto a ladder and climbed swiftly until he reached the wodden beams that crossed the huge training hall, twenty feet up in the air. He paced across a narrow beam, hooded eyes half closed, until he reached the middle of the room. He liked coming up here to think. Nobody could bother him up here, and there was just something in the way everything seemed so small and insignificant that relaxed him and cleared his mind. He sat down, legs dangling off the beam, and watched the dust motes spiralling through the air, lit up by the ray of sunlight that filtered softly through the skylights. Inspiration came easily to him when he was up here, alone, as well. He'd composed some of his best music sitting right at this spot.

Shadowhunters had a lot of time on their hands, once they were through learning the basics of demon hunting and reading through the Codex, since they didn't go to mundane schools. Some of them passed their time reading, some took up musical instruments or found hobbies. He'd found his passion in composing and producing music. He had a fascination for mundane music, especially Hip-Hop, and secretly tried out rapping from time to time. Only Moonbyul knew about this, since she also shared his interest in rapping. Hoseok and Jimin passed almost all their free time dancing, and Seokjin and Taehyung liked to sing, along with the rest of the girls. They even had a dance studio and a recording studio with all the necessary equipment.

They'd had a hard time convincing the old Head of Institute to allow them to convert the rooms. The Institute belonged to the council, he'd argued, and not to them; it wouldn't be right to change the building after so many years of tradition. It was only when he'd died during the huge battle at Idris againt Valentine and his demons and Seokjin had been appointed as the next Head, that they'd been given permission to do some renovating. Their only condition was to use their own money and not the money of the Institute. Namjoon had been a great help. Being alive for so long, the warlock had some serious cash on his bank account and he'd been only too eager to help, partly because he too had a passion for music.

Yoongi closed his eyes and listened. From here, he could hear faint noises from the streets floating through the open skylight. People laughing, talking. Music. Cars. Birds. And...

"MIN YOONGI!!"

His eyes snapped open and he glared at Hoseok who had just burst through the doors. Solar was right on his tail, looking downright livid. Hoseok just looked terrified.

"What," he snapped, irritated.

"Hyung, the boys," Hoseok panted, eyes wide. Solar just stormed off to the armoury, flinging the doors open and arming herself to her teeth.

"What, Hobi," he growled impatiently. He stood up, eyes narrowing. Something was definitely wrong.

"Joonmyun just called," Hoseok stammered quickly, catching the weapons Solar tossed at him and quickly putting them on. "Jimin and Tae, those idiots, they decided to sneak out and take on those Elapid demons you were talking about yesterday. I don't know how they knew about it, but they're there right now, alone!"

"WHAT?!" in a flash of movement, the blond boy flung himself off the beam, landing lightly with a perfect roll to absorb the impact. He could feel rage and worry bubbling up and his thoughts flashed involuntarily to a certain small Shadowhunter with crescent moon eyes, chubby cheeks and bright big smile. If Jimin was hurt, he swore, darting to Solar's side and kitting himself up rapidly, he would _pulverise_ those wretched demons - and heaven forgive whoever dared stand in his way. 

"They must have heard me telling you about them yesterday," Solar hissed. She slammed the armoury door shut and started drawing runes on Hoseok's shoulders. Yoongi grabbed his own stele and started tracing a speed rune on his forearm. Worry clouded his mind. Within minutes, they were finished and rushing out the Institute. Joonmyun joined them just outside the Institute, and Solar thanked him hurriedly as they rushed to the old arcade.

"It's not a problem," he promised. "It was Baekhyun and Chanyeol's fault for listening to them and actually leading them here, anyways. I'm sorry for not being able to help you."

He glanced over the three determined and deadly Nephilim and added wryly, "Not that you actually seem to need our help. I think you'll be more than a match for them."

Yoongi was the first to dash down the stairs and through the doorway. He remarked that witchstones marked a path through the dark arcade, and he took in the scene in front of him.

Jimin and Taehyung stood back to back amidst a swarm of snake-headed demons, fighting for their lives. Splashes of ichor had burned through their gear in various places and both boys were panting heavily. Taehyung's bow lay abandoned next to the wall, his sheath of arrows obviously empty. Despite their clear disadvantage, the boys had done a good job of defending themselves and the number of demons still fighting had obviously been greatly decimated. Demons disappeared back to their home dimension when killed, which meant there were no dead carcasses lying about, but the amount of ichor left behind showed just how many there had been in the beginning.

With no further ado, Yoongi leaped into battle. He vaulted over an old table and came in blades whirling, slicing off heads and limbs, leaving destruction in his wake. He too preferred using twin blades like Jimin, but his knives were thinner, lighter and more flexible than Jimin's heavy, standard straight knives. They were an extension of his arms. Min Yoongi didn't leave the Institute often, preferring to stay inside and teach the younger ones how to fight, but when he went into combat he was a legend, known for his deadly precision and agility. He was light on his feet and, like a cat, always landed on his feet no matter how high he fell from.

Jung Hoseok was his opposite, charging in from the front. He too preferred to stay out of trouble, unlike the younger kids who practically went out looking for fights, but was also one of the best Shadowhunters of his age in Seoul. He used a long sword, double-edged and deadly, held with both hands.

Kim Yongsun was the definition of an ice queen when in battle mode - unlike her name, Solar. Beautiful, deadly and ice-cold, her crystal sword reflected her perfectly. It was capable of slicing even the toughest demon in half and was a rather rare choice of weapon. She helped Yoongi teach the younger Nephilim. Another of her favourite weapons were the Japanese style throwing knives, and she'd gotten a reputation for being able to hit the target perfectly from incredible distances.

The demons stood no chance against those three. Within a quarter of an hour, the hall was completely cleared of demons, and the Nephilim relaxed, dropping their guard.

"What the hell were you thinking," Solar hissed at her brother as soon as the last writhing demon corpse disappeared. "By the Angel, Taehyung, do you never learn?"

She was about to continue but Taehyung stopped her, looking slightly panicked as he reached for his Parabatai. "Chim-" he choked out, just as Jimin's eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the floor. Yoongi caught him just in time, panicking.

"What- What's wrong with him?" Hoseok gasped, crossing the distance in a few large strides and dropping to his knees beside the little huddle. He quickly rolled back the ruined sleeves of Jimin's gear and revealed the deep wound that was rapidly turning purple around the edges. Yoongi let out a choked sound and fumbled with his stele.

"Let me," Solar stopped him gently, taking the stele from his trembling fingers and expertly tracing an Iratze next to the wound. Taehyung watched silently, body shaking slightly. He could feel Jimin's pain through the Parabatai bond, could feel the energy seeping slowly out of his best friend. Hoseok grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"It's not working," Yongsun growled, frustrated, after a couple of minutes. "He must have been bitten. Elapid venom is deadly - we'll need better treatment. We need to get back to the Institute. Come on." Without a word, Yoongi stood up, Jimin cradled in his arms, and followed the rest out of the dark building.

\-----------------------------------

The Shadowhunter Academy had been a huge success after its re-institution a few years ago. Every year, new Shadowhunters graduated and were sent to different Institutes all over the world. Kim Seokjin was here for one of this year's graduates : a mundane Academy student by the name of Jeon Jungkook. The boy had been chosen for his athletic prowess and his possession of the Sight. His parents had kicked him out at 14 years old when he'd started claiming to see supernatural creatures everywhere, and the boy had survived 2 years on the streets, learning parkour and pick-pocketing for a living. He was a handsome boy, with messy black hair and equally black eyes. He looked especially nervous, Seokjin noted, biting his lower lip and wringing his hands subtly. His heart went out to the boy. Although deaths by the Mortal Cup were rare, it was still a very present possibility and he couldn't imagine the amount of stress Jungkook must be feeling.

Namjoon, sitting next to him, leaned in closed and nodded in the direction of Jungkook. "That's our boy, isn't it?" He murmured in his ear. Seokjin had to suppress a shiver at Namjoon's deep sexy voice, choosing to focus instead on the question itself.

"Yeah. His name is Jungkook," he replied softly. Namjoon nodded thoughtfully. They were sitting at the very back of the Council Hall, which was half full of Shadowhunters there to witness the Ascension. One by one, names were called and the mundane students headed to the dais where they shook the hands of their professors then ascended by drinking from the Mortal Cup. Finally, it was Jungkook's turn.

"Jeon Jungkook," Consul Penhallow called. Jungkook stood up shakily and headed to the dais. He shook each of his professors by the hand, then knelt in the center of the double circles traced on the dais. Seokjin held his breath as the Consul asked the traditional vows.

"Do you swear, Jeon Jungkook, to forsake the mundane world and follow the path of the Shadowhunter?" She asked, and Jungkook gulped nervously. "Will you take into yourself the blood of the Angel Raziel and honor that blood?" the Consul continued. "Do you swear to serve the Clave, to follow the Law as set forth by the Covenant, and to obey the word of the Council? Will you defend that which is human and mortal, knowing that for your service, there will be no recompense and no thanks but honor?" Jungkook swallowed once again then set his jaw, looking determined. "I swear," he said firmly.

"Can you be a shield for the weak, a light in the dark, a truth among falsehoods, a tower in the flood, an eye to see when all others are blind?" Seokjin loved this part of the vows. It reminded him of just what being a shadowhunter meant. It represented all the values he stood for, that he believed in. Shadowhunters existed to protect and love, to fight for the good in this world, and he hoped Jungkook also understood the true meanings and history behind the words. "I can," Jungkook replied.

"And when you are dead, will you give up your body to the Nephilim to be burned, that your ashes may be used to build the City of Bones?"

"I will," Jungkook said solemnly.

"Then drink."

Consul Penhallow lifted the Mortal Cup and handed it to Jungkook, who hesitated slightly then raised the Cup to his lips, drinking it in. Seokjin gripped Namjoon's arm anxiously as a blinding flare of blue light surrounded Jungkook. The short moment felt like an eternity as he watched the boy. Then, the light faded and Jungkook opened his eyes. He was a Nephilim now. Relief and pride filled him, despite the fact that he didn't know the first thing about the younger boy. Jungkook rose and walked back to his friends, a wide grin on his face. The grin made him look surprisingly adorable, his eyes and nose crinkling happily and slightly large front teeth making an appearance.

The rest of the ceremony passed by quickly, then it was all over. People started trickling out, pausing by the newly-turned Shadowhunters to offer their congratulations.

"Come on," Seokjin said excitedly, pulling Namjoon behind him as he made a beeline for the black haired young Nephilim.

"Hello," he said softly, not wanting to scare the younger, tapping Jungkook on the shoulder. The boy turned to stare at them, surprised. "My name is Kim Seokjin, and I'm the Head of the Seoul Institute," he explained. "I'm here to bring you back with me to Seoul." Jungkook's eyes widened and he bowed hurriedly. "No, no, don't worry about formalities," Seokjin laughed, waving a hand airily. "Just call me Jin hyung, Jungkook-ah." Namjoon smiled beside him.

"Hey," he greeted him. "My name is Namjoon, and I'm a warlock. I'm here because Jin hyung is actually horrible at travelling and I need to make sure he doesn't get lost." His eyes twinkled at him and Jungkook's mouth dropped open.

"Your.. Your eyes are purple," he stammered. Namjoon laughed. "Yeah, my eyes change colour to match my hair. It's my warlock trait - I get to change my hair colour whenever I want to. It's better than getting blue skin or sprouting horns, I guess." He shrugged. Jungkook laughed as well, still staring wonderingly at his purple hair and eyes.

 

They were in a restaurant in the City Center, having dinner together, when a small ribbon of paper appeared with a flash next to Namjoon's head, unfurling itself and hovering in the air. Jungkook dropped his fork in shock. Namjoon frowned and grabbed the paper, reading it quickly. His face blanched and he raised his head to stare at Jin in horror.

"What is it?" Seokjin's voice grew higher with worry. "What is it, Namjoon?"

"We have to go," was all Namjoon said in reply, motioning for the waiter to bring the bill. "We have to get back to the Institute right now. Jungkook, do you have a lot of stuff you need to pack?"

The boy simply shook his head. "I've got nothing," he replied. "I lived on the streets before coming here, so I have no possessions. My roommate let me share his clothes while we were at the Academy, so I've got no clothes either. Is there something wrong?"

Namjoon didn't reply, simply paying their bill and standing up. The two others followed him hastily as he speed-walked out of the restaurant.

"Joon, you're freaking me out," Seokjin said firmly, grabbing the taller by the elbow and tugging him to a stop. "Tell me what the note said."

Namjoon dragged a hand down his face. "It was a message from Jackson," he explained finally. "Jimin's been injured and Solar called him in for help. He's done the best he can but he still needs me to finish the spell."

"Jimin?" Seokjin all but shrieked, his grip on Namjoon's elbow becoming almost painful. "What do you mean, Jimin's been injured? What on earth happened while I was gone?"

"I don't know," Namjoon sighed. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. Calm down, Jin. Jackson got him through the hardest part. Jiminnie's gonna be fine. Don't worry, okay?" He rubbed Seokjin's arms reassuringly, massaging little circles into the skin on the inside of his elbows.

"Okay," Seokjin repeated after him, trying to calm down. Jungkook patted his back hesitantly, his touch feather light and timid. The action made Seokjin smile despite himself and he cooed inwardly at the younger boy, even as he ran through all sorts of horrible scenarios in his mind.

"I'm serious Jin, stop imagining things," Namjoon reprimanded sharply. "I can tell you're imagining all sorts of horrible things. Don't."

"Alright," Seokjin smiled sheepishly at him. "I still want to get home as fast as possible, though."

"Don't worry about that," Namjoon grinned. "I'll make a portal as soon as we're out of the gates," he promised. "Hold on just a little while longer."

 


	4. And always will until the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating for such a long time!! I was so busy, I couldn't find any time to finish the chapter. Sorry again! I'd originally planned to make this a short fic about Taehyung and Jimin, maybe 4 chapters in total, but now with Jungkook and the girls coming into the picture I think it's going to end up being slightly longer than that. I hope you like what I came up with! Thanks as always for reading ^^

Yoongi sat at Jimin's bedside, looking down at the younger boy. He looked so small and defenceless, lying there in the infirmary. Yoongi's heart ached for him. The wound on his arm was bandaged and his other wounds had all healed, and Yoongi could almost believe Jimin was simply sleeping. But the truth was, Jimin had been unconscious these last few hours, body waging war against the Elapid venom in his blood. As soon as they'd arrived at the Institute, Solar had called in Jackson, Namjoon's fellow warlock. The flashy warlock had worked his magic on Jimin, drawing the venom out of his system and countering the deadly effect the poison had had on his body. He'd finished just a few minutes ago, sweaty and exhausted. He'd done his best, he said, but he needed help to finish. He'd sent a message to Namjoon - the High Warlock would be able to finish the spell. He'd then proceeded to pass out in the bed next to Jimin's, snoring loudly.

Hoseok stuck his head through the door. Spotting Yoongi, he came over, putting a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "How is he?" he asked solemnly, giving Jimin's unconscious form a quick scan.

"He needs Namjoon to finish the healing process," Yoongi replied dully. "The warlock said he's past the worst part, but even with Namjoon's help it all boils down to whether his body is strong enough to survive the process, in the end. If he wakes up in the next 24 hours, he'll be fine. Any longer, and it becomes harder to predict." Hoseok squeezed his shoulder briefly.

"Taehyung's a mess," he said quietly. "He blames himself for everything."

"As he should," Yoongi growled angrily, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Don't be like that," Hoseok sighed. "He's suffering just as much as you. Maybe even more. Jimin is his Parabatai, after all."

"Yeah," Yoongi sighed, deflating. He didn't really blame the young Nephilim. Taehyung could be reckless and impulsive at times, but he would never willingly put his loved ones in serious danger. He and Jimin couldn't have known there would be so many of the creatures. And Yoongi knew that Taehyung loved Jimin more than anything else. So no, he couldn't really stay angry at the kid.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"In his room. He's been crying his eyes out ever since we came back."

Yoongi sighed again, standing up. "I'll go check on him," he said. Hoseok nodded, smiling at him before taking his place beside Jimin's bed.

Yoongi headed for Taehyung's room. He hesitated before knocking.

"Come in," a muffled voice sniffled, voice cracking miserably. He pushed the door open a crack, just enough to slip through, then pulled it closed behind him. The room was dark, just enough light coming through the crack in the curtains for him to make out a lump in the middle of the bed. He sat down beside the huddle of blankets, where muffled sniffles and sad little hiccups were coming from. Yoongi sighed again.

"Stop crying, kid," he said gruffly, patting the lump of blankets awkwardly. The sobs paused briefly before coming back harder than ever.

"S-s- sorry, hyung," Taehyung hiccoughed. "I d-didn't mean for Jiminie to get h-hurt. And I can f-feel him, h-here," he sniffed, suddenly sitting up and putting a hand on his chest. The blankets slipped off his head and pooled around him, forming a sort of nest. He looked so pathetic and lost, nose red from all the crying, that Yoongi felt his heart go out to the boy. He cursed his soft heart.

"He's gonna be fine, Tae," he promised, pulling him closer and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "It wasn't your fault. You shouldn't have gone there in the first place, yeah, but you couldn't have known how many there were."

"But I got him _hurt_!" Taehyung wailed, flinging himself onto Yoongi and sobbing into his chest. Yoongi rolled his eyes fondly. "There there," he said gruffly, patting Taehyung's head.

\---------------------------------

The heavy double doors of the infirmary slammed open with a bang. Hoseok jumped and Jackson startled awake.

"Where is he?" Seokjin stormed in, closely followed by Namjoon and a black haired young boy.

"Namjoon, man, thank God," Jackson greeted his friend, giving him a high five and fist bump.

"How is he?" Namjoon asked him, purple sparks already falling from his long fingers. Seokjin impatiently pushed Hoseok out of the way, dropping to his knees beside the unconscious boy and smoothing his hair out of his face.

"What happened," he snapped. Hoseok gulped. Seokjin was a gentle man by nature who could be rather childish at times, but his fierce protectiveness when it came to the people he loved was a force to be reckoned with.

"The kids tried to sneak out and deal with a pack of Elapid demons on their own. We arrived in time, but Jimin got bitten and the venom got into his blood," he hurriedly explained.

Seokjin rolled his eyes exasperatedly as Namjoon leaned over Jimin. "I leave you for a day and a half, and this is what happens?" he threw up his hands and moved away, giving Namjoon room to work his magic.

"Thank you so much, by the way," he said warmly to Jackson, who smiled cockily. The younger warlock was way more flashy and obviously magical than Namjoon, who could pass for a normal person if he just changed his hair and eye colour to black or brown. His tan skin actually sparkled, and he had multiple piercings. His body was buff and his blond hair was perfectly swept back. The most striking thing about the warlock was the forked red and black devil's tail that snaked out of his pants and flicked lazily in the air.

"No problem, babe," he winked. Namjoon glowered at him, pausing in his treatment. Seokjin, slightly flustered, mumbled a thanks and looked helplessly towards Hoseok, ears all red. Muttering curses under his breath, Namjoon turned back to Jimin and concentrated on working his magic. Bright purple sparks flew from his fingers, forming a sparkling, undulating cocoon around the two of them.

Hoseok watched in wonder. He had been one of the first to befriend the warlock, years ago when he had been even younger than Jimin was now, but he was still amazed every time the clumsy, bumbling man transformed into a confident, powerful magical being. He seemed almost like a different person altogether. Seokjin also looked on, a slightly dreamy look on his face as he admired the handsome Downworlder.

Half an hour passed before the sparks began to die down, seeping into Jimin's skin and slowly disappearing. Namjoon sat back, tired but satisfied. He reached out and undid the bandages around Jimin's arm, and the others cheered as they saw the now flawless skin appear from under the white bandages.

"That went better than I expected," Namjoon said hoarsely. "He should be fine, now. He'll probably wake up sometime before tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh god,  _thank you_ ," Seokjin gasped, rushing forward and catching Namjoon in a huge hug. The taller boy froze, face turning bright red. Seokjin also froze as he realized what he'd done, and stepped back hurriedly, clearing his throat embarassedly. Jackson looked on in amusement, raising an eyebrow at the awkward pair.

"Those two really should get their shit together," he remarked casually to Hoseok, who agreed wholeheartedly.

\--------------------------------

Jungkook looked on in wonder as the tall man worked his magic. He stood in the background, trying not to draw attention to himself as he absorbed every detail of the infirmary. The dashing man with the devil's tail fascinated and scared him at the same time. The brown haired guy next to him looked much friendlier. He was clearly another Shadowhunter, as his bare arms were covered with runes, spiralling up his toned biceps and disappearing into his black sleeveless top. The boy on the bed looked way too small and cute to be a shadowhunter, he thought, frowning slightly in confusion. His baby face and chubby cheeks made him seem younger than Jungkook himself. He wondered how old he was. Seokjin had called him... Jimin?

He was admiring the sparkly magic cocoon when someone cleared their throat next to him. He jumped and turned to see a breathtakingly beautiful Shadowhunter smiling gently at him. He gawked. Were all shadowhunters this attractive, he wondered belatedly. First Seokjin and now this lady!

"Hello," the woman said cheerfully. "You must be Jungkook. My name is Yongsun, but everyone calls me Solar. Come with me, I'll show you around the Institute."

He blushed and nodded, following her out of the infirmary.

"There would be more of us around to welcome you, normally, but some are out right now, while the others were distracted by Jimin's injury. The girls should be back soon, though, they said they were caught in some traffic. Taehyung and Yoongi are both worried sick about Jimin so you'll probably have to wait until he wakes up to get to talk to them."

"How old is Jimin, exactly?" he asked curiously.

Solar laughed. "He's two years older than you," she replied. "and so is Taehyung. He sure doesn't look 19 though, does he?" She nudged him playfully. He laughed shyly, eyes and nose crinkling in mirth.

"This is the training hall," she presented, pushing open a set of doors that led into a huge wooden-floored room. An obstacle course was set up in one corner, while various wooden dummies were clustered beside a row of shooting targets. A few mats lay side by side in the middle of the hall, forming a hand-to-hand combat ring. "These lead to the armoury," she added, marching over to another set of doors that she opened to reveal a smaller room containing all sorts of weapons. Seraph blades and crystal knives, chakrams, throwing knives and daggers, swords, maces, spears, axes, bows and arrows among other weapons were displayed on weapon stands and small tables, hung on the walls and stacked in small neat piles next to each display. Black Shadowhunter gear and sensors, witchlights and steles had their own section, while special equipment like holy water, wooden stakes and silver bullets took up another. Jungkook recognized most from his lessons at the Shadowhunter Academy but some he had never seen before. He explored the room excitedly, flitting from stand to stand. Solar watched him from the doorway, a slight smile on her face.

"This is so _cool_ ," gushed Jungkook.

"Which type of weapon do you prefer to use?" Solar asked him.

He considered a moment, head tilted cutely as he thought. "I'm not sure," he said finally. "I was rather good at fighting with all types of weapons, actually. I'm good at adapting and I learn quickly, but I never found a weapon I have a clear preference for."

"Hmm," she mused. "Okay. You have variety, that's a good thing. Still, you should try to find out which weapon type you feel most comfortable with. I use a crystal knife and Japanese throwing knives, for example." She gestured towards the said weapons. "It all depends on your fighting style and your strong points. Taehyung is agile, creative and better at tactics than actual hand-to-hand combat, so he chose the bow and arrows. He finds a vantage point where he can back up and protect his Parabatai, Jimin. Jimin is more of an agressive fighter and not much for defense, which is why Tae's position is so important. He chose the twin knives, so he could use both arms to fight." She moved around the room, showing him the various weapons she mentioned as she spoke. "My brother, Seokjin, uses this heavy double-headed axe."

Jungkook blinked in surprise. He would have thought the gentle, protective Shadowhunter would have preferred something less gory and lethal. The axe Solar displayed to him was huge, the shaft almost the length of his arm and the double-bladed head glinting evilly in the light.

Solar chuckled at his look of surprise. "Yeah, it doesn't really match his looks, does it?" Jungkook nodded in agreement. "My brother is Head of this Institute for a reason. He likes to stay at home, caring for others and forming peaceful bonds with Downworlders and other Institutes. He's good at all that diplomatic stuff, unlike me, who prefers to go charging in at the faintest sight of trouble." She laughed. "There's another side to my brother, though, that not many get to see. He cares very deeply for those he considers his friends, Jungkook. And whenever someone he cares for is in danger, nothing can stop him from charging in to save them. And that's when he takes out this axe. In those moments, he is unstoppable, and quite frankly, he may well be the best fighter amongst us all."

Jungkook processed all this in silence. He watched the light reflecting off the blade of the axe, and thought that he admired Seokjin for being so brave. He himself never dared care for someone to such extents. Ever since his parents had abandoned him, he'd hardened his heart. People died or disappeared all the time on the streets. It was every man for himself. The few so-called friends he'd had would have hardly hesitated to run for their lives if he'd been in danger, and he would have done the same. The concept of going to such lengths to fight for others was almost foreign to him, and he found himself wondering if just maybe, he could start to let down his defenses just a bit. Maybe he could learn from this man - maybe he could love again.


	5. Hello, hello, hello, how low

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!! I'm finally back!  
> I'm sorry for the long wait :'(  
> It was so crazy, with exam week and Easter break and family and guests and everything else, that I didn't have time to write...  
> Please excuse all the irregular updates... Either I write a lot in a really short time, or I don't have the time to write for a looooong time! Sorry :(  
> But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> I'm in spain now, on a short holiday before school starts again. It's lovely here.  
>   
> P.S. I'm running out of lyrics from Smells like Teen Spirit to use as chapter titles!! @.@

The sun rose on the Institute.

Jimin opened his eyes slowly. His lids felt like they were glued down, and he struggled to lift them. Slowly, the room came into focus. He blinked a few times, eyes scrunched up against the morning light, as he examined the room he was in. He recognised it immediately: it was the infirmary of the Institute. But why was he there? He frowned. He didn't remember much: he recalled fighting back-to-back with Taehyung, and a burning feeling in his chest and in his arms, the knowledge that they were losing the fight suffocating him. The memory of a steely-eyed Yoongi vaulting over a table and slicing through the demon that had been about to impale him with its claw suddenly popped up in his confused mind, and he gasped slightly, his upper body lifting slightly off the bed as he tensed. Yoongi had been there; Hobi hyung and Solar noona, too - bright, disjointed memories flooded through his mind, and he fell back against his pillow. He'd passed out, he now realised. One of the beasts had managed to get past his guard and had bitten deep into his arm during the fight, and once the fight was over and he'd allowed himself to relax, the pain and the dizziness had become too much for him and the room had gone dark. He glanced down at his arm. There wasn't even the hint of a scar on it, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief. His eyes travelled further down his arm to his hand, and he blinked in surprise. There was someone's hand holding it, a pale, long-fingered hand that dwarfed his own plump, child like fingers. He trailed his gaze up the unknown person's hand, following the curve of the arm lying on the sheets, to a mop of messy white-blond hair half buried in the crook of his other arm. His breath hitched. _What was Yoongi doing here?_ his mind babbled in confusion, a heavy blush rushing up his neck and spreading across his face. The hand holding his twitched and Jimin froze as the older boy let out a tired grunt and raised his head a little. Hooded, sleepy black eyes met wide, slightly panicked brown ones and both boys froze.

"Jimin!" Yoongi gasped, eyes widening, suddenly wide awake. "You're awake, thank the Angel!" He started looking over him hurriedly. "Does anything hurt? Can you move your arms properly? Do you feel dizzy or faint?"

"I-I'm fine," Jimin stuttered, blushing heavily. He paused, then glanced at Yoongi, curious. "Did you stay by my side all this time, Yoongi hyung?" he asked shyly, ducking his head slightly in embarassment.

Yoongi's pale cheeks turned pink, his eyes darting away and losing their confidence, glancing at everything but the curious younger Shadowhunter. "Yah, what are you saying, of course not," he stammered, not meeting Jimin's eyes. "I just took over from Taehyung last night cuz the kid really needed some sleep."

"Oh," Jimin answered softly, heart sinking slightly. _Of course Yoongi hyung wouldn't have done that, what was he thinking?_ He was just happy that the elder had cared enough about him to even offer to take Tae's place. He knew how important sleep was to him.

Meanwhile, Yoongi cursed himself silently as he glared at the bedsheets. _Stupid, stupid. Why couldn't he have just said "Of course, dummy," or given just a simple "yes"?_ A soft hand squeezed his, and his head snapped up, locking eyes with his longtime crush. Jimin smiled at him brightly, eyes crinkling happily. "Thanks anyway for staying by my side, hyung," he chirped, and Yoongi blushed hotly. Jimin smiled at the sight, heart racing as he blushed as well.

Their little moment was broken by the doors crashing open. Taehyung appeared in a pikachu onesie, sleepy eyed but determined, and marched over to the bed, declaring loudly, "There, I've slept six whole hours, hyung. Now scoot, it's my turn to hold Jiminnie's hand-" he broke off, finally registering the fact that his Parabatai was sitting up, awake and healthy, and grinning at him. He let out a deafening squeal, launching himself forward and smothering his best friend in a bone crushing hug. "Chimchim!!" he sobbed loudly, covering his face with sloppy wet kisses. "I thought you were _dead_!!" He pulled away slightly, pouting through his tears. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Jimin just laughed, pulling Taehyung back in for a warm hug. Heads poked through the door, attracted by Taehyung's scream. Hoseok, his wild bed hair standing up all over the place, grinned when he realised Jimin had woken up, and bounded in to throw himself onto the hug pile. Jungkook, looking confused and disorientated, stumbled in and stood slightly apart, rubbing his sleepy eyes with a fist. Seokjin was next, rushing in in all his pink pyjama-d glory, almost sobbing in relief as he tore the two other boys away from his beloved dongsaeng to crush him in yet another bear hug. The four girls appeared together, hair messy and in varying stages of undress. Solar was in her workout clothes, hair pulled up in a ponytail and sweaty from her morning run. Wheein and Hwasa were in matching pyjamas, hair disheveled, and Moonbyul wore her favourite tattered old t-shirt with football shorts. The three girls had arrived late the night before and their fatigue was clear in their yawns and dark circles, but they were still delighted to find Jimin conscious and bounded over to fuss over the boy.

"Guys, guys," Jimin laughed, as he found himself surrounded by loud, fussy busybodies who squabbled over who got to be closest to him. "Don't fight, there's plenty of me to go around." In the end, he found himself squished between Hoseok and Taehyung who insisted on squeezing onto the cot with him, while Yoongi sat at the foot of the bed, a comforting hand on Jimin's ankle. The girls clustered around the bed, and Seokjin stood next to the headboard, anxiously checking whether he still had a fever or not. Jungkook had ventured closer, wary and shy of so many new people, and now hovered next to the bed, unsure of where to stand. Jimin noticed him, and cocked his head, curious about the unknown face.

"Hello," he called softly, while Taehyung and Hoseok bickered about the other taking up too much space next to him. Jungkook startled, blushing red as the attention of the whole room turned to him. "What's your name?"

"J-Jungkook," he stammered, fiddling with his the sleeves of his loose grey sweater.

"Hi, Jungkook," Jimin smiled warmly, completely taken by the adorable younger boy. "You must be the new recruit Jin hyung brought from the Shadowhunter Academy. I'm Jimin. It's nice to finally meet you." Yoongi frowned slightly as he noticed Jimin's affectionate gaze, but didn't comment. The girls were just as taken as Jimin was, cooing over the new boy's red cheeks and bunny teeth. Wheein pulled Jungkook closer to the group, flashing him a friendly grin.

"Hey, Jungkook, my name is Wheein, and that's my boyfriend Hoseok," she introduced herself, pointing to Hoseok who grinned and gave a little wave. "This is my parabatai Hwasa," she added, nudging the short haired girl next to her. Hwasa smiled and wiggled her fingers at him. "And this is-"

"Solar, we already met," Yongsun supplied, nodding at Jungkook. "You already know Seokjin, my brother. And this-" she gestured towards the tall boy in the pikachu onesie, "-is my idiot little brother Taehyung. He's the one that got us all into this mess." Taehyung pouted, but her light tone made it clear she was joking, and he settled for whining like a wounded puppy as the others all laughed. Jungkook examined the last member of the group, marvelling at his good looks. Now that he knew Seokjin, Yongsun and Taehyung were family, he could see that the siblings all possessed otherworldly beauty, standing out from the others. The other Shadowhunters were all attractive in their own way, but those three really stood out. Taehyung was especially attractive, he decided, blushing slightly as he noticed that the other had a peculiar, box-shaped smile. _Cute_ , he thought distractedly. He also wondered about the Pikachu outfit. He'd discovered from his time at the Shadowhunter Academy that the Nephilim didn't have the best knowledge of mundane culture and popular icons, so he was surprised and delighted that Taehyung actually knew about Pikachu. He wondered if he also knew about other mangas or animes, and filed the question away to ask him later on.

Meanwhile, he was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable under the burning glare he could feel boring into his side. What was the blond dude's problem with him? He shifted uncomfortably. The guy was smallish, but his scary aura gave the impression of someone not to be messed with and if looks could kill, Jungkook would have long been buried six feet under by now. Apart from that one guy, though, the others seemed quite welcoming, smiling at him in a friendly, affectionate manner. It still astounded him, how some people could act like they were your friends a mere 5 seconds after your first meeting. It put him on his guard, since he knew from experience that it wasn't that easy. Friends left all the time; he had no _friends_. He would let them believe they were, if they wanted to, but for him, no one deserved the title of friend until they had proved themselves to be worthy of it. The one person who came anywhere close to being considered a friend by Jeon Jungkook was Yugyeom, his roommate back in the Shadowhunter Academy. Yugyeom had been his constant companion throughout the whole program, even letting him wear his clothes and share his belongings since Jungkook had nothing to his name. When they'd graduated, he'd left with a promise to keep in touch, travelling to L.A. with a laid back guy named Mark something. To Jungkook, Yugyeom was a sort of experiment: in the beginning, he had been hesitant about the whole Shadowhunter thing, and was afraid to start letting himself feel too comfortable. He couldn't afford to make friends if this didn't work out and he ended up running for it like he always ran from uncomfortable situations. When he found out the reason for his roommate's coldness, Yugyeom told him that he could try treating the whole thing as an experiment of sorts. He could try letting Yugyeom become his friend, and see if it worked out. If it didn't, then fine. He didn't have to make any more friends and could just leave whenever he wanted to. But if it did, and he started to trust Yugyeom even slightly, he wasn't allowed to lie to himself and leave. It was a strange arrangement, but it had worked. Above all, Jungkook was not a liar - he couldn't even lie to himself. Yugyeom had noticed this and used it against him, forcing him to acknowledge his feelings. More than once, Jungkook had been prevented from leaving by his promise to his fellow trainee - because in the end, Jungkook did trust Yugyeom. He always had his back, even when the trainees from Shadowhunter families snubbed him for his past and even when Jungkook's pent up frustration ended up exploding, resulting in a brawl, lots of broken limbs, a bunch of resentful but cowed Shadowhunters, a nosebleed and a warning from the teachers. He was the one who'd saved his life on a test expedition, pulling him back just as a demon slashed at the spot he had been standing in a second before. He'd been the one to hold him back and make him reconsider when he'd tried making a run for it, angry and hurt by the malicious comments of the others. His promise to Yugyeom was what kept him from sneaking away the night before the Ascension ceremony, terrified that he might be deemed unworthy of the title Shadowhunter and that he would be exposed to the world as a coward and a fake, a mere shell of a boy. He couldn't be more grateful to fate for putting him in the same room as the other boy. So, yes, maybe Yugyeom was a friend. No, Jungkook decided, he _was_ a friend. _His_ friend. And if he had a friend, maybe he could make some more. He glanced at the laughing boy in the pikachu onesie. Maybe this Taehyung guy would be a good friend candidate. They'd share their love for Pikachu, at any rate.

\----------------------------------------

Things rapidly returned to normal once Jimin woke up. Lessons resumed as always and Jungkook was integrated into their small group of four, now five students. Hoseok and Moonbyul were patient, understanding tutors and helped him whenever he got stuck, which was often. In the physical lessons, he excelled. Yoongi was grudgingly impressed by the new boy's skills, and Solar was lavish with her praise and support, watching over him with a sort of motherly pride. Hwasa and Wheein decided Jungkook was their new little brother, and treated him as such, teasing him constantly and engulfing him in sudden warm hugs and condescending hair ruffles. Jimin was _infatuated_ by the cute bunny boy, as he insisted on calling him, which definitely didn't help Yoongi's grudge. Taehyung was as enthusiastic as always, delighted to have a new friend to play with. Jungkook tried his best - he really did. But suddenly living with so many friendly, loud, boisterous people didn't really help him start to feel at home, and his natural shyness also hindered him from feeling comfortable. So he hovered on the fringes of their group, quiet and shy, observing everyone and everything but remaining silent in the background.

Seokjin became his refuge. He'd taken a liking to the tall man from the very start, and Solar's story about the man had made him respect and admire him even more. Seokjin could be counted upon to stay quiet, and Jungkook often found himself hiding away in Seokjin's office just amusing himself quietly while the Head of the Institute made his way through piles of paperwork beside him. He quickly discovered that unlike his quiet, mature exterior, the older boy was actually quite playful and childish at times, but he found he didn't mind too much since his playfulness was mostly restricted to bad puns and cringe-worthy dad jokes instead of physical pranks or too much skinship. Namjoon also showed up on most days, always with a lame excuse to explain just why he, a downworlder - and a leader at that - was in a Shadowhunter Institute that he was technically forbidden from entering. The excuses fooled no one, but Jungkook generously held back from poking fun at the two, silently watching them instead as they awkwardly danced around each other.

On the other hand, he avoided Jimin like the plague. He'd figured out the reason for the short tempered blond's glaring and wanted to stop it, but Jimin kept showering him with affection and unwanted attention, always pouncing on him out of nowhere and pulling him into the group whenever he could. It got worse when Jimin found out he was also from Busan: "Omg Kookie, we're from the same place!" he squealed, bouncing up and down in excitement. That was another thing Jungkook hated. Everyone seemed hell bent on giving him a nickname. Kookie, Jungkookie, Kook, not to mention bunny boy, little bunny and Maknae. It made his skin crawl with embarassment, and it seemed way too intimate for people he'd known less than a week to call him that. He unvariably blushed whenever they called him by such names, which only made them coo over his red cheeks.

"Aww, ish our li'l Maknae embawassed?" Wheein teased one day, her laughing eyes crinkled into crescents as she squished his flaming cheeks between her palms. "Look, Hobi, he's even squishier than our Mochi, I didn't know that was possible!" Hoseok studied him playfully, catching her in a back hug and resting his chin on her shoulder. "Mm, I still think Jiminnie's cheeks are squishier," he disagreed. Jungkook squirmed out of Wheein's grip, red-faced and breathless. Dang, she was _strong_!

"Now, where do you think you're going, young man," Wheein tutted, grabbing him just as he was sneaking away while she was distracted by Hoseok's kisses. Jungkook slumped, resigning himself to his fate. "Oppa, don't you think our Maknae should get a haircut? He's getting a little shaggy," she mused, lifting a strand of his hair. Jungkook scowled, swatting her hand away. His hair was getting a bit too long, it was true. He hadn't been to a proper hair salon since he'd started living on the streets over two years ago, and his messy black hair was now starting to brush his shoulders in some places. He'd cut it himself using some kitchen scissors once, but had done a bad job of it, resulting in a shaggy, uneven mop.

"Great idea," Hoseok enthused. "Go get yourself ready, Jungkook-ah. Meet us down at the entrance hall in 10, okay?" Jungkook agreed reluctantly and dragged himself back to his room to change. A part of him was secretly glad for the chance to cut his hair - it had been getting on his nerves for quite some time, always getting in his eyes and blocking his view when fighting. It would be great to get to see more of the city, too. Since he'd lived in Busan most of his life, he was new to Seoul and hadn't had the chance to explore yet. He got ready in a flash and left his room in considerably better spirits than before, but all his good feelings about the day vanished when he spotted Yoongi standing at the doors instead of Hoseok. Wheein was with Yoongi and waved him forward eagerly. He inched forward gingerly, eyeing the grumpy blond male. "Jungkook, Hobi and I are busy today so Yoongi oppa will be going with you instead," she explained brightly. "He's been wanting to dye his hair again anyways, so the two of you should use this chance to get closer. Don't be back too late, and try to avoid getting into trouble! Good luck!" and with those words, she pushed them both outside and shut the doors firmly behind them, turning the locks with a decisive click. Jungkook and Yoongi stood there in disbelieving silence. Jungkook chanced a glance at his companion, who was just standing there glaring daggers at the doors. He jumped when the other suddenly spoke. "Aish, come on, kid. Let's get this over with." Yoongi's voice was gruff and exasperated, but not mean or malicious, to Jungkook's relief. He trailed behind the older as they made their way through the town, carefully keeping out of Yoongi's way. He didn't want him to explode.

Meanwhile, Hoseok and Wheein watched the two through a small window in the alcove next to the entrance hall. "You really think they'll be alright, SeokSeok?" Wheein asked worriedly, nibbling on her thumb. Hoseok just laughed and drew her hand away from her mouth, holding it firmly instead. "Yah, don't let Yoongs hear you calling me that," he grinned. "He'll have your head for stealing his nickname."

Wheein smiled devilishly. "Oh, don't worry. I can just threaten him with Jimin and he'll be putty in my hands."

"Who will?" a voice behind them asked, making them both jump.

"Oh, Jiminnie," Hoseok laughed awkwardly. "Didn't see you there. How long were you standing there for?"

Jimin shrugged, eyes still narrowed in suspicion. "I just came in and heard you talking about me. Why? Was there something I shouldn't have heard? Who were you talking about threatening, anyway?"

Wheein laughed nervously, thinking fast. "We were talking about Tae, of course. He would do anything for you, especially after your accident, and he hasn't been handing in his homework lately. I was saying we could threaten him with punishing you whenever he fails to do something, instead." Hoseok mouthed "Good thinking," at her over Jimin's head, giving her a discreet thumbs up. It was the truth, anyway. Taehyung _never_ did his homework.

"Oh," Jimin said, eyes widening. "Tae, that idiot! Don't worry, hyung, I'll tell him off for you. By the way, have you seen Yoongi hyung anywhere? I wanted to talk to him..."

"Yoongs just went out," Hoseok told him. Jimin's shoulders slumped slightly. "Oh, thanks, hyung. I'll be going then," he waved dejectedly and left the room. Wheein raised her eyebrows at his retreating back.

"He still doesn't know, does he?" she asked.

"About Yoongi? Nope. Not a clue," Hoseok sighed. "They're both so frustrating," he growled, tugging at his hair, making it stand up in every direction. Wheein snorted at the sight. "You look like a porcupine," she sniggered, running her fingers through it fondly. "We should do something about it," she added casually, tilting her head to examine her masterpiece.

Hoseok grinned evilly. "Operation Yoonmin, yeah?" Wheein grinned right back. She held out a hand and Hoseok high fived it.

"Operation Yoonmin, start!"


	6. I will not bow, I will not break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back at school now... *sigh* the life of a student is hard :'(
> 
> ATTENTION: the titles are gonna change from now on ^^ I ran out of lyrics to use haha so from now on they're either going to explain what happens in the chapter, or be lyrics from another song that I feel sums up the chapter. This one is from I will not bow, by Breaking Benjamin.
> 
> The next few chapters are going to be called "Yoonmin operation" by the way! haha  
> This one is featuring a lot of Sugakookie learning to accept each other and becoming friends. Jungkook's past also makes an appearance. I might be posting a seperate fic with the details of Jungkook's life before he joins the Seoul Institute, so keep an eye peeled!  
> Also, yeah the characters might be kinda frustratingly shy with each other (*cough* namjin *cough* yoonmin *cough*) but bear with me please ^^;

Jungkook trailed after Yoongi, trying hard not to get lost in the crowd. They hadn't bothered with the Mendelin rune, so people could see them just fine. Most people steered clear of Yoongi, somehow sensing that this was not someone to be crossed, but to his eternal annoyance, no one seemed to have told them that Jungkook was just as ~~badass~~ dangerous as the blond Shadowhunter, and he was continuously jostled from side to side by the busy, bustling crowd. At this rate, he was going to lose sight of Yoongi. He huffed a sigh and was just about to call to the older boy to wait for him, when he noticed that Yoongi had paused in front of a side street. Yoongi gave no reaction when the breathless teen stumbled to a stop next to him, simply starting down the street without a word. The way was mostly empty, and the streets became steadily emptier and narrower as they twisted and turned through the maze of back streets.

Finally, they stopped in front of a small shop with a bright neon sign blaring _Xia Hair_. Yoongi pushed open the door and the two boys entered. Inside, the shop was warm and brightly lit, cozier than it had seemed from the outside. A tall man with bright red hair stood tending to a sullen looking teenager, who was slumped in his chair looking completely done with the world.

"Yoongi! Long time no see!" the red haired man exclaimed, looking up from the boy's hair.

"Hey, Junsu hyung," Yoongi replied easily. "I see you've changed your hair again. Wasn't it bright yellow, before?"

The boy in the rotating chair snorted. "It was yellow _months_ ago. The last few weeks it was blue. Keep up, dude."

The hairdresser, Junsu, smacked the boy's shoulder, hard.

"Ow!" he yelped, clutching his bruised shoulder.

"Respect your elders, Sehun," Junsu tutted. "And you're one to talk. Who's the one getting his hair turned into a fucking rainbow, hmm?"

Yoongi snorted with laughter. "A rainbow?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he strolled over to the chair next to Sehun's and threw himself down. Jungkook followed, sitting himself down carefully next to Yoongi.

"None of your business, Shadowhunter," Sehun growled, scowling.

Yoongi just flicked his forehead. "Manners, kid. Joonmyun would be so disappointed with you - a member of his pack being so rude, how disgraceful," he grinned, settling back into his chair as Sehun massaged his sore forehead, grumbling.

"Who's the new kid, Yoongi?" Junsu asked absentmindedly, concentrating on applying the correct dye to each strand of Sehun's hair.

"Jungkook," Yoongi grunted. "New recruit. Just Ascended." Jungkook muttered a small hello. "Boy's a genius," Yoongi added grudgingly. "A natural. Better than anyone I've seen 'till now." Jungkook blinked at the unexpected compliment, slightly embarassed. He felt strangely proud of earning the skilled Nephilim's approval. "He needs a haircut," Yoongi continued.

"Mm, I can see that," Junsu hummed, regarding Jungkook's mop of hair with a professional disgust. "And you? What color will it be this time?"

"I was thinking green," Yoongi said, voice thoughtful. He eyed a strand of white-blond hair critically, twisting it in his fingers. "Not the kind of dark seaweed green you had before, hyung - I was thinking more of a... mint color. What do you think?"

Junsu looked him over quickly, thinking about it. "It's not a color anyone's tried before," he said finally, pulling a heating machine over and setting it up behind Sehun. "but with your pale complexion, I think it might actually suit you pretty well. Good choice," he approved, and turned the machine on. The huge fan started turning slowly, heating the hair product and letting it set.

"Alright, then. Let's get to work," Junsu trilled, coming to stand behind Yoongi. "I'll do a treatment on you first. You'll need it if you want to keep your hair from falling out with the constant abuse. I'll cut Jungkook's hair while it works its magic - and I mean that literally: that stuff is from Jackson, and it works wonders, I swear. You're not gonna dye your hair, kid?" he asked, pumping some product onto his gloved hands.

Jungkook shook his head. "I'll stick with black, thanks," he replied.

Junsu hummed. "Probably wise," he said. "I get the feeling that if I bleached your hair you'd end up looking like an old man instead of looking cool. Best for you to keep to dark colors, like brown or black. You might want to try something like midnight blue or deep purple one day. Not too flashy, almost like plain black but with a _zing_ to it," he mused, attitude completely professional.

Jungkook had to admit that sounded cool. "Maybe next time," he agreed, and with a kind smile, Junsu began his work.

Three long hours later, both boys were finished. Sehun had left long ago, extremely pleased with his new multicolored hairstyle. Yoongi paid for both of them, assuring Jungkook it was Seokjin's, a.k.a the Institute's money and not his, and the two of them left the shop, looking very different from when they had entered it. It had grown darker outside, the sun beginning to set, and Jungkook shivered in his thin white shirt. Yoongi noticed and shrugged out of his black leather jacket without a word, holding it out to the younger. He pointedly ignored Jungkook's look of disbelief, glaring the other way as he shoved the jacket in his direction like it was something poisonous. "Just take it, will you?" he muttered gruffly, and Jungkook took the jacket, muttering a thanks as he hastily put it on. It was warm. He couldn't believe Yoongi, who had so far appeared to hate him, was being so nice to him. He was slowly beginning to realize how Yoongi worked - prickly, gruff and quite frankly terrifying on the outside, but actually caring and kind on the inside.

Yoongi stalked off, shoving his hands in his pockets as he hunched up his shoulders against the wind. He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, black skinny jeans and black combat boots, into which he had shoved a small dagger - its handle could be seen sticking out. Jungkook himself had stuck a couple of seraph blades in his jeans pocket, since it was never wise to go out unarmed. He hadn't received that many Marks yet, so his arms were relatively flawless. Only the Voyance rune on the back of his hand  and an incomplete Iratze meant for emergency healings decorated his smooth skin. Yoongi, on the other hand, was covered with Marks and the remains of old, used runes, the dark black lines and silvery stains spiralling up and down his skin and poking out from under the cover of his sweater.

The two boys hurried through the myriad of alleyways in silence. Jungkook was deep in thought, thinking about deceptive appearances and complex personalities, when he looked up and realised he had managed to lose Yoongi. It was his own fault, he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going and had wandered away from the older Shadowhunter. Annoyed with himself, he shook his head and turned to retrace his steps. He was pretty sure he could remember his way back to the shop; maybe Junsu could call the Institute for him or something. He stopped when he realised someone -or some _thing_ \- stood in his way. He tensed. It was a small, crouched figure and it made Jungkook's skin crawl, for some reason. He hesitantly stepped forward and realized it was a homeless guy, a hunchbacked old man in tattered rags and a wide brimmed straw hat. Relaxing slightly, he approached the old man, trying to inch past him in the narrow stone street.

The old man gargled something. Jungkook paused, frowning. "I'm sorry?" he asked politely. It _was_ an old man, after all. Maybe he was lost. He stepped closer to hear what the man was muttering. He realised his mistake when the stranger raised his head and grinned at him, displaying horrible, jagged teeth like those of a shark, impossibly sharp and deadly. "Pretty boy," he gargled, a hand shooting out and grabbing his arm before he could jerk away. "Pretty, pretty boy. Are you lost?"

"N-no," Jungkook stammered, trying to break free. He was freaking out. The creature kept smiling crazily at him, milky eyes wide and bits of froth collecting at the sides of its impossibly large mouth.

"Pretty boy," it crooned, stroking Jungkook's cheek with a gnarled hand. "Lost, lost and all alone, hmm? Come with me, come." He tugged at Jungkook, ignoring his efforts to get away. "No Marks, no Marks to stop you, such a nice little boy," it giggled, and Jungkook cursed his lack of Runes, regretting not marking himself up before leaving the Institute. He suddenly remembered the Seraph blades in his pocket. He redoubled his struggles, trying to reach around and slip the blades out of his jeans. "Come with me, pretty little Shadowhunter."

He finally managed to wrap his fingers around one of the blades in his pocket. " _Jahoel_ ," he spat, gripping the weapon in his free hand as the glowing blade blazed to life. The creature hissed, snarling at the angelic blade, and Jungkook brandished it triumphantly. "Let go of me, foul creature," he spat. He slashed down at the limb clutching his arm and the goblin sprang back as if burned before the Adamas could touch it. "Nasty, nasty," it sputtered and spat, pacing warily around Jungkook. He was sweating, fingers slick around the blade. It was his first time facing a foe alone, armed only with a blade, and he felt a rush of adrenaline. Contrary to all the action movies he had watched, adrenaline didn't give him badass fighting skills. In fact, it made his head spin, almost making him forget all his training and making his swings shaky and inaccurate. He cursed his trembling hand. What had happened to all his confidence in the training hall? This wasn't even anywhere near the most dangerous creature they had trained to fight against, yet his brain was babbling at him like a baby, telling him to just _get the hell out of there_. And the thing, the goblin, could tell. He could see it in its crafty eyes, the way it licked its lips as it eyed his trembling blade. It knew he was scared, unexperienced. It could smell his fear, sense it like a shark. He gulped and gripped the blade tighter.

"Jungkook!" an arm grabbed him from behind, swinging him back to place him safely behind the newcomer's back. _Yoongi_. Jungkook almost sobbed in relief. He had never been so glad to see someone in his life, and Yoongi was certainly a reassuring ally to have.

" _Goblin_ ," Yoongi hissed, eyes narrowed. "This boy is not yours to touch. Leave, or face the consequences." Even without a visible weapon, the boy was terrifying. The goblin cowered back, lowering its eyes and muttering under its breath. "The boy was lost, wandering around unmarked. Unmarked means weak. Weak means prey." It continued to grumble, spitting and gargling. Yoongi growled angrily. "The lack of Marks does _not_ mean he is yours to take, Faerie," he spat. "You have no business here. Leave, I say." The goblin glared, but slunk back reluctantly, disappearing into the shadows. Yoongi relaxed, then whirled on Jungkook. He flinched, bracing himself for a scolding, but none came.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly, grabbing his shoulders and turning him around to check for wounds.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Jungkook stuttered. He finally let himself relax, and he felt his limbs start to shake. The blade dropped from his numb fingers and he buried his head in his hands. Yoongi said nothing but pulled the boy closer, patting him on the back.

"I-I was so pathetic, hyung," Jungkook groaned into Yoongi's shoulder. "I couldn't do anything. I don't deserve to be a Shadowhunter." He pulled back, tugging at his shirt in shame. "A-and you told Junsu hyung I was good!" he wailed quietly, utterly ashamed. Yoongi chuckled and patted his hanging head.

"Yah, don't be so hard on yourself. It's natural to panic on your first time." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Listen well, kid. Being a Shadowhunter doesn't mean you can't feel fear. It doesn't automatically turn you into a hero. Now that you know just how scary it is to actually have to fight for your life, you'll be prepared next time. That's what we train you for, isn't it? So don't be ashamed, kid. You'll get used to it soon enough."

Jungkook nodded and wiped his teary eyes furiously, embarassed by his tears. "It's just," he sniffed, "I remembered something, and I panicked. I-" he broke off, shuddering at the memory. Yoongi waited patiently for him to calm down, pulling him down to sit on the stone steps in front of a boarded-up shop. "It was the first time I met a demon," Jungkook started finally. "I'd always seen them from afar, never up close. I was 14, and I was on my way home." Yoongi listened wordlessly. "It was getting dark, and I was alone, when suddenly there was this guy in the street, following me. I didn't notice him at first. I was listening to some music, I didn't see him until it was too late. The demon - it looked like a normal guy, except for the eyes. They were black, pure black. No whites. I don't know why it came after me specifically. Maybe I was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever the reason, it tried to grab me. I saw it coming. My body reacted on its own, and it ended up missing me. It came back straight away, though, and it lifted me like a sack of potatoes. It kept licking its lips and muttering stuff like that goblin was doing. It was going to _bite_ me. I managed to grab a pencil - I stabbed its back and it dropped me, but I twisted my leg when I fell." Jungkook rubbed his leg absently as he told his story, feeling a phantom pain from the memory. "I was terrified. There was no one around, just closed shops. There was a bike and board rental shop next to where I fell and I was desperate, so I grabbed a stone and broke into the store. I hit the demon around the head with a longboard and just booked it out of there on a bike. I didn't even feel the pain, I was so concentrated on getting away. Later, no one believed me when I explained just why I had been breaking and entering, not to mention stealing. I suppose I should have left out the supernatural parts, but I told the exact truth like a little idiot." He laughed bitterly. "My parents are super rich, so they managed to get me out of trouble and even wiped the whole event from police records, but it was the last straw for them. They were already sick of my 'stories', so they kicked me out. They said they had no need for a troublemaking crazy kid like me who saw monsters around every corner. So yeah. That goblin brought back bad memories and I panicked. Even after two whole years and all that training for such exact situations, I can't seem to get over it."

There was a long silence. Yoongi didn't know what to say. He settled for squeezing Jungkook's knee reassuringly in silence. The small gesture turned out to be better than any words he could have offered, since Jungkook sniffled and gratefully leaned his head on Yoongi's shoulder. They stayed like that for a while.

"Thanks, hyung," Jungkook said finally, voice a little hoarse. Yoongi merely gave his knee another friendly squeeze. Jungkook smiled and stood up shakily. "We should get back to the Institute," he said. Yoongi nodded in agreement, and the two of them started walking. The way back was spent in silence, both boys deep in their own thoughts. Yoongi was processing Jungkook's story, realising that the boy's past was more complicated than he let on. He felt a surge of protectiveness for the younger boy. Jungkook, on the other hand, was slightly shocked that he had opened up so much to someone like Yoongi, who hadn't known him for very long. He felt a strange sort of comfortableness around the older boy, a feeling of safety. He wondered whether this was what having an older brother felt like. His real brother had never had time for him, always busy with his studies. Junghyun had been the perfect son: tall, handsome, smart, dedicated, sensible and ambitious. Neither he nor their parents had time for the hallucinating little runt that was always getting into trouble. Somehow, Yoongi felt more like a big brother than Junghyun ever had, despite being the perfect role model to look up to and follow.

 

The others were in a state when they got home; they'd been worried since the two had taken much longer to get home than they should have. Wheein was comforting a teary Hoseok who was convinced he had sent them both off to their deaths and Seokjin had been endlessly pacing back and forth in the entrance hall. When the two finally slipped through the doors of the Institute, they were mobbed by the crowd of impatient friends that was torn between exclaiming at the new hairstyles, yelling at them for making them worry and asking them what had happened. Everyone complimented Yoongi's new mint green hair, but their jaws dropped open when they saw the difference a simple haircut had made in their Maknae. Before, Jungkook had hidden his face behind the curtain of hair, peeking through shyly from behind them. Now, with his hair newly cut and styled, his face was brought into clear relief. His cheeks were still slightly chubby with baby fat, and his nose was slightly too big for his face, but his jawline was already sharp and his features well defined. The new haircut brought out the best in him, turning him from a shy emo kid to a handsome young man. Everyone marveled over the transformation. Taehyung in particular was a blushing mess, hovering close by like a butterfly attracted by a sweet smelling flower. He had already thought Jungkook was cute before that day; now his mind was blown by the shy bunny smile coupled with the handsome, attractive face.

The two boys didn't say much about the reason for their lateness, simply saying that they'd run into some trouble on the way back, but Seokjin could tell Jungkook had been crying even if the others couldn't, and coaxed the truth out of them later on in his office. He was outraged by the behaviour of the goblin - _probably a rogue_ , he growled angrily. Normal goblins were better behaved than that since they were under the care of the Faerie Queen. He had also known about Jungkook's past but he was still enraged by the behaviour of his parents. _It was outrageous_ , he ranted later that night to Namjoon, pacing back and forth angrily in his office. _Parents should never abandon their kids like that. How dared they?_ He was of half a mind to go to their house himself and shake some sense into them. He was so mad.

"Hey, he's here now. You can all become his family from now on, instead, and make sure he gets all the love he deserves," Namjoon comforted him.

Seokjin frowned at him. " _We_ can become his family," he corrected. "Why leave yourself out? You're as much a part of us as anyone else."

Namjoon was at a loss for words. Suddenly, he choked up, and standing abruptly, pulled Seokjin into a hug. Seokjin squeaked.

"Thank you," the warlock muttered in a low, gravelly voice filled with emotion. "All my life, I've never met a Shadowhunter as accepting of downworlders as you. All of you accept me so easily as one of your group, and you don't know how much it means to me." He pulled back slightly and noticed how red the boy in his arms had become. He chuckled fondly and Seokjin glared up at him. "Don't laugh," he pouted. That only made Namjoon laugh harder.

"God, you're so adorable," Namjoon chuckled. Both of them froze when they realized what he'd said. Suddenly, the room felt too hot and both boys realized just how close they were standing to each other - they were pressed close, Namjoon's arms wrapped tight around Seokjin, faces so near each other's that their breaths mingled. Seokjin could hear his heart banging in his chest and prayed to the Angel that Namjoon couldn't hear it, too. He was slightly shorter than the tall warlock, so his eyes were at the level of his mouth, and he gulped, eyes fixed on the plump lips just inches from his. His tongue flicked out to wet his own lips and Namjoon swallowed hard, eyes flickering down to watch the movement. Slowly, he leant in. Seokjin's breath hitched, and then they were kissing, slick lips finding each other hungrily, and it was all he had ever dreamed of. It was short and sweet, and full of promises and hope for the future, and when they pulled back they were both grinning madly.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," Namjoon breathed, eyes shining. Seokjin laughed softly, leaning his head on the other's chest. "Me too," he admitted. "I've wanted this for so long." Namjoon smiled, kissing his temple, and readjusted his arms around the Shadowhunter. Seokjin smiled up at him. This time, he was the one who leaned in first, and their second kiss lasted way longer than their first.


	7. Yoonmin Operation : start!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the Yoonmin Operation starts!
> 
> ATTENTION: Guys, I'm a senior in high school and end of year exams are coming up.... :'( So I'm probably not going to be able to update for a while. Exams start on the 24th of May and I graduate exactly one month later, 24th of June. Sooooo I'll probably be back at the end of June. I'll try my best to write even during exam period but no promises! Thanks as always for your support and please vote for BTS at the BBMAs!!

"All right!" Hoseok announced, spreading both palms flat on the table. "Now that Namjin is official, I think it's time for another long awaited ship to sail. This means," he paused for effect. "A _Plan_." The group seated around the round table groaned. He had requested an emergency meeting of the so-called "Yoonmin lovers", and a total of five people had shown up. The two boys in question were obviously left in the dark about the meeting, and Taehyung had also been deemed untrustworthy. He was never able to keep a secret from his parabatai, and it was therefore out of the question to invite him. Jungkook was training with Yoongi to keep him busy, and Seokjin had similarly taken Jimin out grocery shopping. Of course, these two had no idea they were being used by the others, since Hoseok had left Jungkook out of the loop for reasons he refused to share just yet, and Seokjin would have disapproved of the whole endeavour.

Hwasa rolled her eyes and spoke for the whole group. "Yeah, ok. So what is your great _plan_ , oh Master Schemer of the Century?"

Hoseok scowled at her, but continued speaking, undeterred. "All right. So, we all know who we're talking about. Yoongi obviously likes Jimin, and Jimin _obviously_ likes Yoongi. They need to get together, but they're both too obtuse to notice that they're pining, _pining_ I say, for each other."

"May I remind you that Wheein and you were the same before Yoongi got tired of you two dancing around each other and ended up telling you to just kiss and be done with it?" Hwasa asked, examining her nails with a bored expression.

Wheein was the one who scowled this time. She punched her Parabatai on the arm.

"Oww!!" Hwasa yelped, pouting and rubbing her sore arm. "Ok, ok, I'll listen! Jeez!"

"Good," Hoseok smiled in satisfaction, giving his girlfriend an approving kiss on the forehead.

"So, what exactly is your master plan?" Moonbyul asked, curious. She was leaning against the doorway, long legs crossed at the ankle. Black headphones hung around her neck and she was dressed in monochrome in black leather pants, an ivory sleeveless top with a high neck and a black jacket. Her long white gold hair completed the look.

"Ok, so I'm guessing all of you noticed how jealous Yoongs was acting of our new Maknae?" he started excitedly. Solar groaned again. 

"Oh _no_. No, please don't tell me you're going to use that poor innocent boy to meddle with your best friend's love life. Is this why he wasn't invited? I don't approve of this." She sighed and covered her eyes with a slender hand, shuddering slightly. "So much could go wrong here." Her large expressive mouth turned down in a grimace.

"We won't be _using_ him, necessarily," Hoseok protested. "He doesn't need to do anything, Jimin fawns over him anyway even without our influence. All we'll be doing is giving Yoongi's thoughts a nudge in the right direction."

"Explain," Moonbyul ordered, frowning.

"Ok, so we could for example create situations where the two of them are alone, and then mention it to Yoongs like it means something more, you know?" Hoseok listed excitedly. "Or steer the conversation in a certain way so Yoongi will get jealous. And then maybe I could give him a talk about how he should make a move before Jiminnie gets snatched by our good looking Maknae. Yoongi doesn't deal well with jealousy, see. He's pretty possessive when it comes to things he really wants, he just doesn't show it often." He sighed at the doubtful looks he got. "Come on, guys. I'm positive my plan will work! I mean, you'll all be ancient tottering grannies if you just sit and wait for either one of them to make a move. Jimin is too shy and unsure of himself to say anything, and Yoongi is just an emotionally constipated grandpa." Moonbyul snorted with laughter at the comparison.

"Sorry, Hoseok, I really don't think this is a good idea," Solar sighed. She ran a hand through her long jet black hair. "I've already had a talk with Yoongi about acknowledging his feelings, and I think we should just leave it at that. We could make things even worse by meddling and sticking our noses in where they don't belong." She stood and leaned over to ruffle the disgruntled boy's hair. "Sorry, Hobi," she repeated as she made to leave, a small fond smile on her face.

"I agree with Yongsun," Moonbyul said apologetically. "These kind of things should just be left to those concerned. Sorry, Hobi." She gave him a small smile before turning and following Solar out of the room.

Hwasa sighed. "I'll help you, but only because of Wheein." The other girl grinned and engulfed her best friend in a bear hug.

"Alright, let's get this plan in motion!" Hoseok cheered, and the three Shadowhunters put their hands together for a group cheer.

 ---------------------------- 

Putting the plan in motion was easier said than done. A huge problem that none of them had foreseen was Jungkook's sudden closeness to Yoongi. Ever since the incident with the goblin Yoongi had entered Jungkook's list of people he felt comfortable with and to everyone's surprise Yoongi let him hang around without a complaint. Taehyung was outraged at the blatant favouritism.

"He doesn't let me anywhere near him, why does Kookie get to play with Yoongi hyung? It's not fair!" he wailed, hanging off his brother's arm. Seokjin rolled his eyes.

"You're too loud for Yoongi, Tae, maybe if you toned down on all your screaming he'd be more welcoming," he said. Taehyung pouted.

"Meanie. You're supposed to take my side, you're my brother!" and with that he flounced off, nose in the air.

Hoseok meanwhile was frustrated. "How come Yoongi suddenly got over his jealousy?" he sulked loudly to his girlfriend. "Kookie's spending more time with Yoongi than with Jimin, so how is my plan supposed to be put into action?"

Jimin on the other hand was in two minds about the whole situation. A part of him was delighted Yoongi and Kookie were finally getting along, yet another part of him seethed with jealousy every time he spotted the two of them together. He didn't know what to do. _At this rate, Yoongi hyung is going to end up falling for Jungkook, I mean, who wouldn't?_ he thought miserably. _I'm no match for Kookie, I won't have a chance._ He still adored his cute little dongsaeng, but he couldn't help the twinge of pain whenever he watched Jungkook flawlessly execute a move he had been struggling with for the last few lessons, or when he looked in the mirror and noticed his chubby cheeks and small plump hands. He wished he had large hands like Taehyung or a handsome face like Jin. Maybe then he'd seem less babyish and more like someone who deserved Yoongi hyung's attention.

Hoseok was right when he had said Jimin was too self conscious to confess his feelings. Jimin had been the brightest little kid, all bubbly giggles and bright smiles, but losing his parents at a young age had changed him. He'd become obsessed with reaching perfection in everything he did, pushing himself to become a better fighter, a better Shadowhunter. When the time came, he wanted to be able to protect his loved ones. After the incident, he had been taken in by Taehyung's parents, who had been his parents' best friends, but he'd closed in on himself, rejecting any attempts at affection from them. He would spend hours and hours in the training hall, repeating the same moves until he almost passed out, to Taehyung and his family's worry.

Kim Taehyung had played a huge role in bringing back the happy Jimin from before. He'd brought him out of his protective cocoon and soothed away his worst fears, but despite all of Taehyung's best efforts, his best friend had kept his biggest insecurities. Now, Jimin was undoubtedly happier than he had ever been in his life, surrounded by loving friends and always with his Parabatai by his side. However, Taehyung was still fiercely protective of his fragile best friend, especially since Jimin had saved him just as much as he had saved Jimin. Jimin had been the one to stick by him through thick and thin during his rebellious years, the one to propose the Parabatai ceremony to an insecure Taehyung who had had doubts about how good a shadowhunter he could become when he cringed away from hurting others, even if they were really demons who merely looked human. He'd been the first one to accept him as who he was, to tolerate all his strange whims and unusual way of thinking. Without Jimin, he didn't know what would have become of him, and he knew the other felt exactly the same way about him.

He wasn't happy Jimin felt so insecure about himself when it came to Yoongi. He could see that the elder clearly had a soft spot for Jimin, but the boy in question simply refused to believe his feelings had a very good chance of being reciprocated. His own inability to love and accept himself as he was had led to the inability to believe that others could find him to be worth loving. Taehyung had tried time and time again to show Jimin he _could_ and already _was_ loved by everyone around him, but all his efforts had been taken as empty words said to raise his self-esteem. It pained Taehyung to know that such a loving, _kind_ soul as Jimin couldn't find it in him love himself. To others, Jimin was overly generous, always finding the best in everyone and believing in people regardless of appearances. Selfless, caring and thoughtful, he was often the first person his friends sought out when in pain or with a troubled mind.

Tae loved that about his best friend, and wanted only the best for him, which was why he sincerely hoped Yoongi would be the first to confess to Jimin and reassure him he was worth loving. Despite Taehyung's apparent airheadedness and childishness, he was actually rather observant and fast to notice and react to the mood in a room. He could see Jungkook and Yoongi had nothing romantic going on. Just _why_ the relationship between the two had suddenly changed, he had no idea, but he suspected that Jungkook had somehow triggered some kind of protective instinct in Yoongi, and that thanks to that protectiveness, Jungkook felt safe in his hyung's presence, while he didn't feel quite as comfortable with the others just yet. He just hoped the change in dynamics between the two would not lead to Jimin giving up entirely on his crush.

\----------------------------

"Hey, Jiminnie, let's go out to eat," Hoseok enthused one day. Seokjin was out that day doing Institute work and as the designated chef of the Seoul Institute, his absence meant Takeaways and eating out for the rest of the group.

"Sure, hyung. What should we eat?" asked Jimin, perking up.

"Ooh, ooh, chinese food!" Taehyung gasped, his head shooting up from Jimin's lap where he had been taking a snooze. "Let's have chinese food, hyung!"

Hoseok grunted unenthusiastically. "Didn't we have chinese food last time, too?" he complained.

"There can never be enough Jjajangmyun ( _*Black bean sauce noodles, a popular chinese Takeout food in Korea*_ ) in this world," Taehyung said solemnly, sitting up and putting a hand on his heart. Hoseok sighed.

"Alright TaeTae, let's ask Yoongi and Jungkook what they want first, though," he relented. "Wheein and the girls have already eaten, apparently. They went out for lunch with their faerie friends." He frowned. He didn't really approve of said faerie friends - the Fae were tricky creatures, unable to tell lies but slippery as a snake and wily as a fox. You could never trust the Fair Folk, he believed. He wasn't against them exactly, he was just afraid the girls would fall for one of their tricks and get in trouble one day.

"Which ones?" Jimin asked interestedly as they made their way to the training hall where Jungkook and Yoongi were training.

"Jisoo, Lisa, Rosé and Jenny," Hoseok listed. "The Blackpink group, as Wheein insists on calling them," he added, amused. Wheein liked to give nicknames to the Downworlder groups she was friends with. Joonmyun's pack was called EXO, the faerie girls were Blackpink and Kwon Jiyong's friends formed Big Bang. Hoseok found his girlfriend's ideas hilarious but endearing, and often gave suggestions himself.

"Ooh, I like them," Taehyung said happily. "They're really fun to play with. Did you know, Jisoo and Rosé can speak without opening their mouths? They can puff out their cheeks and still say stuff. It's amazing," he laughed.

Hoseok and Jimin exchanged amused glances as they neared the doors of the training hall. "Maybe you could practice that, too," Jimin was suggesting as he pushed the doors open. The words froze on his lips, however, when he heard the two boys inside speaking.

"-think I like you, hyung. Will you... go out with me?" Jungkook's embarrassed voice floated out from the training hall. The three boys froze, unable to believe their ears. What they heard next made their jaws drop open.

"Sure," Yoongi's unmistakeable gruff voice said. "Of course I will." Hoseok was flabbergasted. His brain went - _"Wait, what?!?"_ as it froze and went in circles, repeating the short conversation and trying to properly understand it. Then, his brain unfroze as he realized just who was standing next to him and he quickly glanced down, only to realize Jimin was nowhere in sight. Taehyung had obviously realized the same thing, for he was sprinting down the hallway in pursuit of his best friend.

 _Okay_ , Hoseok thought. Now he was _pissed_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahahaha Cliffhanger! Just what on earth is going on here?  
> Sorry guys, you'll have to wait for the next chapter. (*queue evil laughter.*)  
> Hope you liked the chapter, it was shorter than I would have liked but oh well..  
> Well, I guess I'll be seeing you in June! Toodles~^^


	8. Yoonmin Operation Pt.2 : Wait... what?!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww guys guess what? You get another update! SURPRISE!
> 
> I know I said I wouldn't be updating until my exams end but I seem to be writing more of this than actually studying. Must be some sort of reaction to stress. A way to keep my mind off the fact that I might just fail if I don't get my shit together @@...
> 
> And also I really don't like being mean to readers and leaving them hanging on such an important scene lol  
> Plus I wrote this in like 2hours, that's a first!

"Wait, what?!?" Hoseok gasped. He stood frozen in the doorway, not believing his ears. The two boys whipped round guiltily.

"Hyung!" Jungkook yelped, turning red. "It's not what you think!"

"Oh yeah?" Hoseok sneered, growing angrier by the minute. "What the hell, Yoongi? I thought you liked Jimin!" He glared at his best friend.

"I do!" Yoongi protested, ears red. "Look, it really isn't like whatever weird situtation you're imagining up, ok? Jeez, don't glare at me like that Hobi, you're scaring me," he tried to joke, but Hoseok was having none of it.

"Oh yeah? he repeated sarcastically. "Tell me what _was_ going on, then, because to me it sounded very much like Jungkook just asked you out and you fucking agreed."

Jungkook stared down at his shoes, looking abashed. Hoseok tapped his foot impatiently, arms crossed and a deep scowl on his face.

"I'm waiting," he snapped.

 

Jungkook was mortified, to say the least. He wondered distractedly just how this entire situation had gone so wrong as he bit his lips, mentally preparing himself to explain. Hoseok looked angrier than he had ever seen him before, and he had to admit he was terrified of the normally happy-go-lucky boy's transformation. Hoseok was _scary_ when he was mad.

The day had started off normal. He'd wandered into the training hall after breakfast and almost had a heart attack when he discovered Yoongi napping, of all places, on one of the wooden beams criss-crossing the ceiling of the hall. He'd yelped in alarm when he'd first noticed the older boy lying flat on his back on the narrow beam, worried he might fall off in his sleep and hurtle to his death, but Yoongi had just waved him off when he'd climbed up to wake him up, saying _he liked it up here and wouldn't fall, don't worry kiddo_. Jungkook had watched in awe as he then re-closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, still balanced precariously on the narrow strip of wood twenty feet above the ground.

He'd eventually left the other boy to his nap, returning to the floor and starting to practice fighting with a spear. He'd discovered that it was fun fighting with the long metal-tipped stick a few days ago and had been practicing diligently ever since, whacking down straw dummies with enough force to burst them open, whirling the spear around like an acrobat whirling his baton.

That day, he was practicing actually throwing the spear. He'd been completely focused on perfecting his aim when Yoongi had finally woken up.

"You're holding it wrong," a sleepy voice sounded from behind his back, startling him and making him drop the weapon.

"Oh, hyung, you scared me," Jungkook said weakly, bending down to pick up the fallen stick. "What am I doing wrong?"

"You're supposed to hold it like this," Yoongi instructed, moving around to show him the correct position. "You're gripping it too hard. Too much force will make it go off-course when you throw it." With Yoongi's help, he finally managed to throw the spear halfway across the hall, impaling a dummy straight through where its stuffed straw heart should be. Jungkook cheered in triumph and flopped down on the thick mat lining the combat ring. Yoongi ruffled his hair proudly and sat down beside him.

"Hyung," Jungkook said then, voicing a thought he'd been struggling with for the past few days. "How do you confess to someone you think you like?"

Yoongi glanced at the younger boy, taken aback. Jungkook was lying on his back, an arm thrown over his eyes as if embarassed by his sudden question.

"You _think_ you like them?" he asked, just to clarify things. 

Jungkook blushed. He lowered his arm slowly. "Yeah," he admitted in a low voice. "I don't know if how I feel is really liking them or not. I don't recall _ever_ liking someone in _that_ way before. I had a crush on my teacher when I was in third grade, but that's kinda it for my nonexistant love life."

He paused before continuing, his voice slightly vulnerable. "You know what happened with my parents, hyung. After that, I just... I promised myself I wouldn't trust anyone, let alone love anyone." He barked a bitter laugh. "I didn't even want to make friends, 'cause I thought they'd leave me anyway. But ever since I became a Shadowhunter I've been thinking a lot, and I kinda found myself thinking, living like this isn't that bad, you know? All of you were so nice to me from the very beginning, even when you didn't know anything about me. And Yugyeom made me promise to give other people a chance before we left the Academy, as well. And I found myself thinking, you could all be my friends too if I just let you guys in a little. And.. this one person kept catching my attention."

He smiled fondly. "He didn't pry, or ask about my past like the girls did - I know they didn't mean any harm, but it was hard anyway - and he understood that I didn't feel at home here just yet and didn't push himself on me. He - god, he was so adorable when he brought kittens, _kittens_ hyung, to my room to cheer me up that night we met the goblin. He didn't even know what had happened but he noticed I was upset and he came looking for me that night when everyone else was asleep. He knocked on my door holding a basket with two kittens and a tub of ice cream inside, and hyung - I think that was when I first realised I _might_ just like him more than anyone else in this Institute." He paused. "No offence," he grinned, then continued. "He didn't ask _why_ I was upset, he just handed me a spoon and told me to _eat, ice cream makes everyone feel better when they're down._ " He smiled again at the memory. "I don't know much about liking someone, hyung, but I want to try to become normal again. I'm tired of building walls to keep everyone out."

He sat up and stared at the far wall. "Namjoon hyung told me once, loving takes more effort than hating, but there's nothing more worth that effort. He said that it takes bravery to take the plunge and give someone your love, be it friendship or romantic love. Everyone throws the word love around so easily," he mused. "I don't think that many people actually pause to think about all the pain and struggles that comes with caring for someone. I know my parents didn't. They said they loved me all the time, but I could tell they didn't, not really." His voice held a tiny waver.

"Namjoon hyung said it was why he likes Seokjin hyung so much. Seokjin hyung can find it in himself to truly care for so many others, to really love them." He shook his head lightly. "I can't do that so easily, you know. I don't see how he can open himself up so easily to all the hurt people could throw at him. The more you care, the more you get hurt, so it's best if you just don't care - I've always thought that way. But Seokjin hyung keeps telling me that it doesn't always have to be that way. He also told me he loves all of us just the same, no matter what we do, and that he loves me, too. He said you guys could become my family if I just let you in, if I just opened my heart a little." His voice cracked slightly. "And I thought, I want to try. I want to be brave, hyung, I want to be able to love others. And I just, I just thought, if there was anyone in the world I wanted to try to learn how to love for, it would be... him." His voice faltered and petered out, leaving the hall in silence.

Yoongi looked down at the broken boy lying next to him, and felt ashamed of himself. Even Jungkook was willing to take the risk of being rejected. Jungkook was brave. Yoongi was a coward.

He'd liked Jimin for a long time, and had even noticed that Jimin acted slightly differently when he was around him, leading him to harbor a tiny secret hope that maybe the younger boy liked him back. But he was too afraid to take the first step, too afraid of rejection and just maybe, even more afraid of _not_ being rejected, then disappointing Jimin. He didn't think he was worthy of someone as precious as Jimin. Jimin needed someone kind, someone who would shower him with love and praise, someone who would look _right_ standing next to him. Yoongi was gruff, he found it hard to talk about his feelings and all in all he just wasn't exactly the best boyfriend material. He didn't deserve Jimin, he'd decided that a long time ago. And yet, listening to Jungkook, he felt shame burn him to the very core. Was denying his feelings really the best thing to do? If Jimin _did_ like him too, was it being selfish to think he would disappoint the younger and give up without even trying, first? If love was effort, shouldn't he at least be trying to _become_ the person Jiminnie deserved? He looked down at Jungkook again, and opened his mouth.

"You should just tell him exactly what you just told me," he replied to the youngster. "Tell him you like him first. Ask him out, then when you two feel more comfortable with each other, tell him what you said to me." Jungkook groaned and leaned back on his hands.

"But _how_ do I ask him out, hyung?" he complained, exasperated. Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

"You say, _Will you go out with me_ , of course," he deadpanned. Jungkook blushed and grumbled under his breath about it being easier said than done. Yoongi grinned.

"Practice with me, then," he said, his grin widening at the expression of dismay on Jungkook's face. "Go on, pretend I'm Taehyung."

Jungkook choked and spluttered, face bright red. "I- I never said-" Yoongi rolled his eyes.

"That it was Taehyung? Please. What other idiot would smuggle kittens into the institute? Now stop spluttering, and pretend I'm Taehyung." He turned on the mat to properly face Jungkook, who looked just about ready to die.

"Ok," he said finally, blushing harder than ever. He cleared his throat. "Ok. Taehyungie hyung. I know I haven't known you for all that long, but I think I like you, hyung. Will you... go out with me?" He cringed at his own words and Yoongi grinned again. "Sure," he drawled, teasing the younger boy. "Of course I will."

And then, of course, everything had gone wrong when Hoseok had heard that last exchange. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, and another thing : Do you guys want me to stop making characters swear? Like they don't cuss often but I do think it's necessary in some scenes. Should I like censor them or is it ok the way it is? Please give me your opinions!^^


	9. Bonus: Images!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!! First off, I need to apologize - THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE!!!  
> I've still got 8 exams left (Oh gawd ㅠㅠ) and I haven't been able to write, but I thought the least I could do was give you a bonus, with pictures and images (all off the internet, I own nothing!) of what I imagined each member to be like!  
> Hope you enjoy!!
> 
> \+ sneak peek at the next chapter!!

**The Seoul Institute:**

 

Park Jimin:

   

Our Jiminnie with pink hair <3

   

OMG he is so hott T^T

* * *

Kim Taehyung:

TaeTae with the kitten would look like this <3

  

Why do I feel like Taehyung on stage is basically the exact same as him looking all sexy while fighting?

This would be him in gear.. 

What he would look like as an archer...

* * *

Kim Seokjin:

   

  

Looking hot in a suit!!

Seokjin's double headed axe, except the shaft should be longer...

* * *

 Jung Hoseok:

Happy hobi :)

   

 

ANNDDD

Best friends Sope (Hoseok and Yoongi)!! 

 

 

Hoseok uses a longsword.

* * *

Min Yoongi:

   

Yoongles relaxing at the Institute ^^

  

  

That tongue though.... DISRESPECT!!!

OMG he is so hoottt in this one...

 

    

Jimin and Yoongi's scabbards for their twin knives would look like these.

* * *

 Jeon Jungkook:

  

Our little fetus Kookie <3

Looking all hot in gear... (this was him as a policeman but hey, it's similar enough)

Jungkook's spear, except I prefer having the blade on only one end of the spear.

* * *

 Kim Yongsun (Solar):

  

Just BEAUTIFUL..

  

She is so HOTT oh my gosh

Solar's crystal knife

  

Her Japanese throwing knives and scabbard ideas

* * *

Moon Byuli (Moonbyul):

  

Moonbyul is, like, the definition of a girl crush.

 

ANNDD, a bonus of MoonSun (Moonbyul & Yongsun)

 

She uses the Chakram:

* * *

Jung Wheein:

Cutie Wheein in black <3

  

Soooo cute T^T (Wheein is my bias haha)

* * *

Ahn Hyejin (Hwasa):

   

She is so sexy, it should be illegal.

  

 

* * *

 

**The Warlocks**

 

Warlock Namjoon:

   

Namjoon with purple hair <3

  

   

Hot sexy warlock Namjoon!!

* * *

Warlock Jackson:

   

 This. Is. PERFECT.

* * *

**The Werewolf Pack EXO**

 

Kim Joonmyun (Leader):

  

 

Zhang Yixing:

    

 

Park Chanyeol:

   

 

Byun Baekhyun:

 

  

 

CHANBAEK (Chanyeol & Baekhyun):

 

Kim Jongin (Kai):

 

Do Kyungsoo:

 

  

 

KAISOO (Jongin & Kyungsoo):

 

Oh Sehun:

 

 

Kim Jongdae (Chen):

 

Kim Minseok (Xiumin):

 

* * *

**MORE**

 

Cute NAMJIN (Namjoon&Seokjin):

   

 

Little Kookie with Namjin:

  

 

Parabatai Hwasa & Wheein:

  

 

Adorable VKOOK/TAEKOOK (Taehyung & Jungkook):

   

   

   

 

 

Parabatai VMIN (V=Taehyung & Jimin)

  

  

 

More of Best Friends SOPE (Hoseok & Yoongi):

This is adorable T^T

 

YOONMIN (Yoongi & Jimin):

  

  

 

* * *

 

**Sneak Peek into the next chapter - Yoonmin Operation Pt. 3: Oh, shit!!**

 

Hoseok uncrossed his arms and groaned in exasperation when he heard Jungkook's explanation.

"That's just great," he lamented. "Hyung, do you even know what you just..." he trailed off, unable to continue.

Yoongi frowned, confused. "What?" he snapped. "Just what..." he then broke off, face paling. "No..." he whispered, horrified. Hoseok nodded grimly in confirmation.

"Yeah, hyung. Jimin was with me." He then turned to Jungkook as another thought hit him. "Tae was, too, and all we heard was the confession, not the Taehyung part."

Both boys paled considerably, as the significations hit them. Then: "Crap!!" Jungkook yelped, burying his face in his hands. "Oh, shit," Yoongi groaned at the same time, falling back on the mat. "Shit shit shit!"

_To be continued...._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, guys!! Hope you have a nice week, and sorry for making you wait so long!  
> I'll see you at the end of June :) <3


	10. Yoonmin Operation Pt.3: Oh, Sh*t!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I'm finally back!!!  
> I'm proud to say I have successfully managed to NOT FAIL and I am as of now in possession of an official swiss maturité (which is notoriously hard to obtain)!! Yayy~  
> Anyways, this is a shout out to all you wonderful readers who have left kudos and encouraging comments on my humble work. Thank you everyone and sorry for the wait!!  
> This chapter contains some more Yoonmin angst (is this really angst? it's more like frustration at their unbelievably thick obliviousness) and fluff, a lot more of Mamamoo (their comeback killed me, OMG Solar's pink hair and Moonbyul's purple braids<3) and some BtoB (another of my absolute favourite groups). Hope you enjoy!^^

Hoseok uncrossed his arms and groaned in exasperation when he heard Jungkook's explanation.

"That's just great," he lamented. "Hyung, do you even know what you just..." he trailed off, unable to continue.

Yoongi frowned, confused. "What?" he snapped. "Just what..." he then broke off, face paling. "No..." he whispered, horrified. Hoseok nodded grimly in confirmation.

"Yeah, hyung. Jimin was with me." He then turned to Jungkook as another thought hit him. "Tae was, too, and all we heard was the confession, not the Taehyung part."

Both boys paled considerably, as the significations hit them. Then: "Crap!!" Jungkook yelped, burying his face in his hands. "Oh, shit," Yoongi groaned at the same time, falling back on the mat. "Shit shit shit!"

"What do we do, hyung?" Jungkook whined to Hoseok who rolled his eyes and punched Yoongi lightly on the shoulder.

"You're the one who made this mess," he said, plopping down next to the two distraught loverboys. "You deal with it."

"Is he really upset?" Yoongi asked carefully. He worried about Jimin getting the wrong idea about him and Jungkook, but what he wasn't so sure of was whether he had been affected by the fact that the two of them were 'together' now or not.

Exasperated, Hoseok rolled his eyes.

"You call that a question?" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "Of course he's upset! I wouldn't be surprised if he's curled up sobbing somewhere because you just broke his heart!"

Yoongi frowned, a cautious hope kindling in his heart. "Then... he cares?"

Hoseok huffed at his friend's obliviousness. "That's it. I'm done with you."

He got up and left, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Yoongi.

"Wait, does that mean yes or no?" he called after his best friend's retreating back.

"What do you think, dumbass?!" Hoseok yelled back. "I said he would be crying, didn't I? Do the math!!"

 

Meanwhile, Taehyung had finally managed to find his best friend curled up in a corner of the library. Sighing in relief, he sank down to sit next to the miserable little ball of pink haired fluff and wrapped a protective arm around the crying boy.

"Don't cry, Chim," he cooed softly at his Parabatai, rubbing small soothing circles into Jimin's shoulder. "I'm sure there must have been some mistake. I don't believe Yoongi hyung and Jungkookie are really dating -"

"No, Tae," Jimin sobbed. "You heard what they were saying. Kookie confessed and Yoongi hyung said yes." He sniffled and wiped his face with a sweater paw, before giving up and burying his face in Taehyung's shoulder.

"But it just doesn't make sense," Taehyung tried to reason, but Jimin wasn't listening any more. Curling up into the taller boy's side, he wallowed in his misery. _Now he would never be able to be with Yoongi hyung_.

\--------------------------------------------

"Ugh, I'm stuffed," Solar groaned, leaning heavily onto Moonbyul as the four girls walked down the street. Moonbyul grinned and purposefully let the extra weight push her off balance, resulting in both shadowhunters staggering off the road and collapsing against the wall, groaning and laughing.

"You-" Solar hissed, baring her teeth and curling her fingers into claws. Moonbyul merely chuckled and petted her head, scratching her behind the ears as if she was a real cat. Yongsun pouted but leaned into her hand, an almost purr making its way out of her chest as she relaxed.

Hwasa laughed. "I swear unni, you would make such a great cat hybrid, if such things existed," she joked. "I mean, you're practically one anyway." Wheein hummed in agreement at her side, licking her melting ice cream cone distractedly. Solar frowned, half disgruntled and half joking, before bursting out into laughter. When not in combat, Yongsun was the sunniest, brightest person alive - hence the nickname, Solar. She laughed at _everything_ \- it was so bad, that Hwasa and Wheein had thought she was crazy when they first met the girl who laughed wildly at every tiny detail. When she got serious, however, she was scary calm and efficient, and she could be downright terrifying on the rare occasions that she scolded her younger friends.

"Byulyi unni, didn't you say your cousin was coming here on a trip with his friends?" Wheein asked suddenly as she recalled the bit of trivia.

Moonbyul nodded. "Yeah, he arrived a couple of days ago, actually. He and his friends are travelling the world, visiting all the different Institutes." She popped a mint into her mouth then offered the pack of supplements to her friends. "He'll probably visit us sometime soon," she added. "They want to gather information on the ways each Institute is run, so that they can change theirs to their liking. The leader of their little group just recently became Head of Tokyo Institute, see, and he was a bit lost on how to run it. The old Head was a bit of a tosser, really. They wanted to change things up, so they're comparing as much data as they can." She shrugged. "Minhyuk oppa said they'd swing by sometime, but he never said when, exactly."

"It's so amazing how almost identical you two are. Anyone would think you were siblings." Solar sighed dreamily. "Minhyuk oppa is so handsome - honestly, Byul, you would make such a better man than a girl. You've got such great manners and you're so gallant, plus you know exactly how to treat girls-"

"Well, yeah, since I'm a girl myself-"

"and if you were a guy there would be scores of girls falling over themselves just to get close to you. Not that there aren't already quite a few Moonbyul fangirls," she grinned, "but even _I_ would want to date you if you were a dude. You know how picky I am - this is a great honour, you know." She nudged the sighing Moonbyul playfully.

"Yeah, well, what can I say," Moonbyul shrugged. "Our grandma's genes are super powerful. All my cousins on my dad's side are little carbon copies of her, me and Minhyuk oppa included."

"Ooh, does that mean all your cousins are as good looking as he is?" Yongsun squealed excitedly.

Moonbyul squinted disgustedly. "I don't see what the hype is all about. He's not that great."

"To you, maybe," Wheein snickered. "You're his cousin. To anyone else, he's, like, the epitome of perfect. He's super handsome, he's funny, kind, a brilliant fighter, a great archer and an overall amazing athlete. He's smart and he's fluent in japanese and korean. Plus he _raps_ , and can also sing, dance and act like a pro. What more do you want?"

"Uh... height?" Moonbyul smirked, earning herself a smack on the back from all three girls. "Ow, ow, ok ok!"

"Seriously though, Minhyuk oppa really is perfect," Wheein sighed wistfully as they pushed open the doors of the Institute. "If I didn't have my Hobi I would definitely go for him."

"Why, thank you," a male voice said from right behind them, startling the girls. Solar shrieked, jumping about a foot into the air, while Wheein and Hwasa both started and whipped around to look at the owner of the voice.

"Minhyuk oppa!" Moonbyul exclaimed at the sight of the grinning Shadowhunter.

"Hey, Moonstar," he smiled at his cousin, calling her by the affectionate nickname he'd given her back when they'd both first fallen in love with music and rapping. "Long time no see."

There were six other boys behind him, all smiling broadly and gazing curiously at the girls.

"Ah," Seokjin called from across the hall, hurrying down the stairs with Namjoon, Yoongi, Hoseok and Jungkook in tow. He'd returned shortly after lunch and gathered the others to form a 'welcoming commitee'.

"Welcome to the Seoul Institute!" The two small group met in the middle of the entrance hall. "I see you've met the girls," Namjoon smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Namjoon, High Warlock of Seoul-"

"and I'm Seokjin, Head of Seoul Institute. Once again, welcome!"

A slightly flustered Seokjin led the group into the parlour, where he'd prepared tea and biscuits for them all. Settling down on the various couches and poufs, the Shadowhunters and Namjoon studied each other curiously.

"Hello. I'm Moonbyul's cousin, Minhyuk," he broke the silence. "These are my friends," Minhyuk introduced. "Eunkwang hyung - the new Head of Tokyo Institute." A brightly grinning, energetic young Shadowhunter waved at everyone. His face slightly resembled that of a baboon's, but it wasn't ugly in any way - he had a certain charm that endeared everyone to him at once.

"This is Changsub," Minhyuk continued to list. Changsub was chubby and cute, smiling shyly.

"Don't be fooled by the shy look," Eunkwang commented. "He's the wildest, loudest one in our Institute once he gets comfortable." Changsub made an extraordinarily funny face at him and he grinned. "Yeah, like that."

"Hyunsik is your age, Moonbyul. Peniel is one year younger."

"Ah, really?" Seokjin asked happily. "You're the same age as me, too, then," he told Hyunsik, a handsome, laid back, well muscled boy who had the most beautiful smile. His eyes crinkled up into pretty crescents and the girls all swooned slightly. Peniel was shy and sweet, with a cute accent and a snapback on backwards over a surprisingly bald head.

"Next is Ilhoon, then Sungjae, our maknae," Minhyuk concluded. Ilhoon gave them all a bright, cat-eyed smile. With his pretty face and round, wire framed glasses, he was adorably cute. Sungjae on the other hand was tall and classically handsome. His cold and mature image vanished when he opened his mouth to speak, however.

"Hello everyone! I'm Sungjae! Nice to meet you!" he chirped, a blinding smile on his face. His large mouth made his smile all the more prominent. His voice dripped with bubbly energy and his eyes danced with mischief.

"He'd get along well with Taehyung," Hwasa remarked under her breath to her Parabatai, who nodded in agreement. They both had that energetic aura that marked them out as troublemakers.

"I'm Solar," Yongsun gushed, looking up through her lashes at Minhyuk. "I'm Seokjin's sister and Byulyi's best friend. It's nice to meet you, Minhyuk oppa. I've heard so much about you!"

Minhyuk smiled, amused. "Really?" he chuckled. "It's nice to meet you too." Moonbyul just rolled her eyes.

"You all know me," she said, to which all the boys nodded fondly. "This is Hwasa and Wheein - they're Parabatai. I think... Sungjae, you're a 95er right?" Sungjae nodded. "Yeah, then you're all the same age," Moonbyul affirmed. Sungjae grinned brightly at the girls who smiled back.

"Taehyung and Jimin are also 95ers," Seokjin put in. "I don't know where they are, though - it's strange, I told them you would be coming..."

Yoongi, Jungkook and Hoseok exchanged guilty glances at that. _They_ knew exactly why those two were missing.

Hoseok cleared his throat hurriedly. "Hi, I'm Hoseok," he introduced himself. "I'm a 94 liner, and I teach the younger kids here together with Moonbyul."

"Ah, you must be the 'Hobi' we heard you talking about, then?" Ilhoon grinned at Wheein who flushed bright red with embarassment. Hoseok raised an eyebrow, confused. 

"Am I missing something here?" he asked mildly. Wheein shook her head quickly, face still bright red. Even more suspicious now, Hoseok peered at his girlfriend.

"What," he coaxed, wrapping an arm around her. "What's got you so embarassed, hmm?" It didn't help that the girls were all snickering behind their hands and the Tokyo boys were all sporting large grins.

"Don't worry, it was a compliment," Minhyuk told him finally, still smiling broadly. "You two are cute together."

"Thanks," Hoseok said, letting the matter slide for the time being.

"I'm Yoongi," the mint haired shadowhunter was the next to introduce himself. "93." Several boys raised a curious eyebrow at the gruff, short introduction.

"I'm Jungkook," the youngest said softly, offering them a timid smile. "I'm the youngest here and I only became a Shadowhunter a while ago."

"Wow, congratulations!" the boys all chorused, looking impressed. Jungkook flushed a little with pride.

"As I said, there's also Jimin and Taehyung, but they're missing, so I guess that's it for the introductions," Seokjin concluded, frowning slightly at the continued absence of the two Parabatai. "Well, welcome in any case. I take it you're staying a few days?"

Eunkwang nodded in confirmation. "Thank you for having us," he said politely. Seokjin just waved it away.

"Of course," he said airily. "Anyone's welcome here, for any length of time. It's not like we don't have the space. I'll show you your rooms." And with that, he stood up. Namjoon also rose with his boyfriend, intertwining their fingers together. It was a habit, by then - the two were always holding hands - and they had momentarily forgotten that the visitors didn't know about their relationship.

"Oh," Changsub said eloquently, staring blankly at their linked hands. Seokjin startled, realising the problem.

"Ah," he said embarrassedly, trying to pull his hand away from Namjoon. The warlock however held on, frowning.

"We're together," Namjoon explained curtly, ignoring the spluttering Seokjin by his side. "I know I'm a downworlder, and that we're both guys. If you have a problem with us, you can always leave - you're not being forced to stay." He looked around the small group with a steely gaze.

"No, no," Eunkwang reassured them hurriedly. "That's all fine. We were just surprised, is all." He smiled at the couple. "Congratulations, you two. You look good together."

"Thank you," Namjoon finally let down his guard, offering the Head of Tokyo Institute his first genuine smile.

 

The visiting boys lost no time in getting to known the others. Hwasa, Wheein and Sungjae were close friends in no time at all, and Changsub came out of his shell to become the dorky, 4D character Eunkwang had said he would be. Taehyung and Jimin still hadn't made their appearance by the end of the day, and Seokjin was getting concerned.

"Do you know where they are?" he asked Yoongi, who just shrugged grumpily and turned away to hide his growing guilt and worry. _He had to fix this, and fast._

 

 

\----------------------------------------

For those who are confused, here is the list of everyone (important) in this fic from oldest to youngest (BtoB, BTS, Mamamoo, got7 and EXO), and for those who don't know BtoB, I've included some photos!!

Xiumin (march 1990)  
Eunkwang (november 1990)  
Minhyuk (november 1990) - I still made him call Eunkwang _hyung_ , though...

Solar/Yongsun (february 1991)  
Changsub (february 1991)  
Joonmyun (may 1991)  
Yixing/Lay (october 1991)

Hyunsik (march 1992)  
Baekhyun (may 1992)  
Chen/Jongdae (september 1992)  
Chanyeol (november 1992)  
Seokjin (december 1992)  
Moonbyul (december 1992)

D.O (january 1993)  
Yoongi (march 1993)  
Peniel (march 1993)  
Mark Tuan (September 1993)

Kai (january 1994)  
Jaebum/JB (january 1994)  
Hoseok (february 1994)  
Jackson (march 1994) - except that here, he's a warlock so he's older than any of them.  
Sehun (april 1994)  
Namjoon (september 1994) - same thing as Jackson. Here, he's immortal.  
Jinyoung (september 1994)  
Ilhoon (october 1994)

Sungjae (may 1995)  
Wheein (april 1995)  
Hwasa (july 1995)  
Jimin (october 1995)  
Taehyung (december 1995)

Youngjae (september 1996)

Bambam (may 1997)  
Jungkook (september 1997)  
Yugyeom (november 1997)

 

BtoB (don't kill me if I got some of the positions wrong!):

Seo Eunkwang (leader, main vocal)

Lee Minhyuk (main rapper)

Moonbyul & Minhyuk:

(left - Moonbyul in drag / right - Minhyuk)

(Left - Moonbyul / right - Minhyuk)

ATTENTION: THIS IS NOT MOONBYUL. THIS IS A GUY IN DRAG (a.k.a Minhyuk)

 

Lee Changsub (lead vocal)

Lim Hyunsik (sub vocal, main dancer(? this is dubious but oh well))

Peniel (sub rapper)

Jung Ilhoon (lead rapper)

 

Yook Sungjae (maknae, sub sub vocal (also dubious, apparently his status has changed to lead vocal in recent times lol))

Cute mode off:

Cute mode on:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was shorter than expected - I originally planned to finish the whole Yoonmin episode here, but since it was getting too long I decided to cut it into two chapters!  
> And I hope you approve of how I portrayed the different characters and idols... I really love BtoB, they're one of my 3 bias groups : BigBang, BtoB and BTS - the three Bs, if you will. ;D  
> I'm on the plane to Korea right now hahahaha yayy <3 I'll try to update the next chapter in a week or something, but I might be super busy the first few days after I return to Korea, so the next update might be a leeeetle late^^ sorry..  
> Hope you enjoy this, though!


	11. Yoonmin Operation Pt.4 - Finally, the ship sails!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm sorry for taking so long!!! I had a period of minor writer's block and I just couldn't write anything ... :( But here it is, FINALLY! Enjoy ^^

The day after the seven boys' arrival in the Seoul Institute was extremely hot and sunny, and Sungjae was bored out of his mind. The others were all busy - the Tokyo boys had gone out sightseeing, but Sungjae had already seen everything when he'd visited Seoul with his parents the year before, so he'd stayed behind. The girls had accompanied them, along with Seokjin and Namjoon. Yoongi, Hoseok and Jungkook were nowhere to be found, and besides, he wasn't that close to them yet. Wheein and Hwasa, he'd bonded with immediately, thanks to their natural friendliness and their shared age, but contrary to his bright, friendly attitude, Sungjae was actually a slight introvert who easily got shy. He tried his best to cover it up by starting up conversations with strangers and being hyperactive all the time, but unless the other party reciprocated his efforts, he found it hard to make new friends. Hoseok was easier for him to get comfortable with - that bubbly, bright hyung didn't give him a chance to feel awkward, always joking around and talking animatedly. Yoongi and Jungkook, however, were quiet and introverted - at least until you got to know them well - and Sungjae hadn't been able to get over his initial worries and shyness enough to break through their walls.

He wandered around the Institute humming softly, admiring the different paintings on the walls and striking up random one-sided conversations with suits of armor. Feeling the call of nature, he rushed inside the bathroom next to the Training hall. He'd expected it to be empty - he wasn't expecting to run into a tall, gangly boy with large, pretty brown eyes and go sprawling on the cold tiles of the bathroom.

"Oof," he grunted as he hit the floor.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry!" the boy gasped, stretching out a hand to help him up. "Are you OK?" To his surprise, the fallen stranger widened his eyes with a comically horrified face, clutching at his stomach and lurching up to stagger into a stall, ignoring the concerned boy's outstretched hand.

"Ooohhhh," a long extended groan came from behind the closed door, and the tall shadowhunter standing outside blinked confusedly, a slight blush creeping up his neck.

"Uh, are you alright?" he asked tentatively, knocking lightly on the door to the stall.

"Yeah, sorry," Sungjae called back, relief clear in his voice. "That surprised me, you almost made me wet myself!"

The other jerked back in surprise at the unexpected confession, then burst out laughing.

"Sorry," he giggled. Sungjae laughed along with him, quickly flushing and exiting the stall with a sheepish face.

"Hi," he grinned. "I'm Sungjae. I arrived yesterday with my hyungs. You must be one of the two missing dudes. Uhh.. Jimin? and... Taeyang?" Bent over the washbasin, he scrunched up his face in the mirror trying to remember the names.

"Taehyung," the other shadowhunter corrected. "That's me." He gave a playful wink.

"Taehyung," Sungjae repeated. "Nice to finally meet you." He wiped his wet hands on a paper towel and extended a slightly damp hand for Taehyung to shake.

"Hi, Sungjae-ssi. Great to meet you too. Sorry I wasn't there to welcome you yesterday. There was a... uh, crisis." He wrinkled his brow in distaste at the memory.

Sungjae shook his head. "Apparently, you're the same age as I am," he explained. "No need for formalities - just call me by my name. And what kind of crisis was it?" he asked, curious.

"OK, Sungjae. And trust me, you don't even want to know." He rolled his eyes, lolling back against the counter. "There's trouble brewing in the air, that's for sure."

Sungjae raised his eyebrows. He was around the same height as Taehyung, maybe a centimeter taller, he noticed. He hopped up onto the counter beside Taehyung and raised an eyebrow. "Explain," he demanded, already feeling at home with the other. Maybe it was his unassuming air, or the fact that they were the same age, but he felt strangely comfortable chatting to the brunet. He could sense he was a kindred spirit.

"Well," Taehyung, hummed, chewing on his lip. "There's this guy, OK? And my friend, he's had a crush on him _forever_. Like, literally forever. And I got the feel this guy liked him back, yeah?"

Sungjae nodded back, already interested in where the story was heading.

"Well, apparently I was wrong, 'cause yesterday my friend and I walked in on our other friend confessing to the dude, and he agreed to go out with him." He grimaced. "You can guess how that went over with my friend."

"Ah," Sungjae winced in sympathy. "Poor guy."

"Yeah," Taehyung said miserably. "So I had to stay with my friend and comfort him - I couldn't bear to leave him all alone."

Sungjae nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I totally get it. No worries, though, it's not that much of a big deal that you weren't there. Your friend, the Head of this Institute, _he_ looked pretty pissed off, though. Really worried about you, too. You should look out for him. Reassure him you're not dead, or something."

"Mm. Thing is," Taehyung mused, "I'm not really sure those two really are going out. I mean, like I said, I was pretty sure the guy liked Ji- my friend back, see?"

Sungjae frowned slightly. "But you said he agreed to date the other friend?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess so, but I don't know - it just doesn't seem right, you know? And the other friend who confessed - I never would have guessed he had a crush on this guy, either. In fact, if I really had to guess who he liked, I would have picked... well," Taehyung blushed hotly. "I would have said, well, me," he finished in an embarrassed mutter, lowering his eyes to stare at his slipper clad feet.

Sungjae had both eyebrows raised by now, amused at his new friend's indirect confession. "Ahh," he grinned, "so it wasn't just your friend who was upset at the turn of events, was it?"

Taehyung made a face, still bright red. "Shut up," he muttered, swatting halfheartedly at Sungjae's arm. "I just think it doesn't make sense, OK?"

Sungjae laughed, dodging Taehyung's flailing hand.

"Well, why don't you ask them?" he pointed out reasonably. Taehyung stopped in the middle of a playful punch.

"Why didn't I think of that?" he asked himself, nonplussed. "It's so obvious, yet I never even thought of just going up to him and asking about it. Huh. Weird"

Sungjae shrugged. "Sometimes the answer's right in front of your nose," he said, uncharacteristically solemn for once. "You just have to open your eyes to be able to see it."

\----------------------------------------------

"Hyung!" Taehyung yelled after Yoongi, running to catch up with the smaller demon hunter. "Yoongi hyung, wait up!"

"Taehyung," Yoongi remarked, surprised. "Where were you all this time? Seokjin was worried out of his mind about you two." He purposefully ignored the insistant voice in his head telling him to ask about how Jimin was doing.

"I was with Jimin," Taehyung said shrewdly, carefully watching Yoongi's reaction.

Yoongi's cheeks flushed slightly, but it was hard to catch - the only reason it was visible at all was Yoongi's abnormally white skin. "Oh?" he hmm-ed, endeavouring to sound nonchalant. "Why, was there something the matter with Jiminie?"

Taehyung rolled his eyes. "Yeah, there was ' _something the matter with Jiminie'_ ," he drawled. "Don't worry, though. You've got your boyfriend to worry about, now. How's Jungkookie?"

Yoongi winced. "Tae-" he began. He paused, thinking about how to go about explaining the misunderstanding.

"Tell me something, hyung," Taehyung interrupted, examining Yoongi carefully. "Are you two really dating? Because I'm having a hard time believing you are, somehow."

"No!" Yoongi blurted, relieved Taehyung had caught on so fast. "No, it was all a misunderstanding."

Taehyung nodded thoughtfully. "I thought so," he mused. "I'm always right. Hah! Take that, ChimChim!" He grinned to himself, satisfied.

"No, no need to explain to me," he continued, holding up an open palm to stop Yoongi who was opening his mouth to clarify the situation. "It's Jimin you need to explain this to."

"Could you maybe tell him he misunderstood?" Yoongi asked hopefully, but the younger was shaking his head even before he finished speaking.

"No, that's up to you, hyung," he said firmly. "You need to fix this."

Yoongi deflated, sighing and running a hand through his minty hair. "How, though?" he asked miserably. "Jimin would never listen to me long enough for me to explain. He'd just keep running away."

"Don't underestimate him," the younger boy frowned. "He's stronger than you think. Sure, right now he's a little distraught, but he's strong enough to behave normally when he's with the others. Don't think he'll stay crying in a corner forever."

"Where is he?" he asked cautiously.

"He went out to cool his head for a bit. He wanted to be alone. He'll be back before supper." Taehyung looked hard at his hyung. "Make sure you clear things up," he warned him. "I don't like my Jiminnie suffering like this - you'd better make him smile before today is up, or you'll have me to deal with."

Yoongi smiled faintly. "Of course," he replied fondly. "Don't worry, I want him to smile, too."

Taehyung nodded, satisfied. He turned around to leave, striding away with long steps.

"Oh, and Taehyung-" Yoongi called after him. "Thank you," he finished sincerely.

\-------------------------------------------

Jimin wandered the streets of Seoul alone, earphones blasting out music and hands stuck deep in his pockets. He kicked out at an offending stone blocking his way. A man had to vent his feelings somehow, didn't he?

He was unglamoured, dressed in ripped jeans and a supreme hoodie. He had a few weapons hidden here and there, but on the whole he was just a normal, sulky teenager who, at the moment, was ruminating about just how much he hated his life. His usual optimism had vanished, at least temporarily. He was miserable, but at the same he was kicking himself internally for being such a petty, weak human being. How could he, even for a second, have hated his adorable dongsaeng? It wasn't Jungkookie's fault they both liked Yoongi. He was, after all, incredibly attractive, talented, cool, kind - he could go on forever. Jimin was thoroughly ashamed of that brief moment of weakness. His nature repelled him from really hating anyone. When you put yourself into someone else's shoes and knew what they knew, felt what they felt - then, you could understand their actions no matter how horribly mean they seemed, he found. He therefore forgave easily things that others would have found unforgivable. His friends were always telling him he was _too_ kind, too forgiving. He was easy prey for people who sought to manipulate and take advantage of him.

He wouldn't change for the world, though. He found it was better to be hurt than to hurt others.

Merpeople flashed their colorful fins below him in the Han River as he crossed the bridge, flipping their long hair as they broke through the surface of the glittering water. When he turned off his music to take in the refreshing afternoon, he could hear their high, tinkling laughter, the chatter of clear, musical voices in a language he did not understand. It made him feel better to watch their carefree playing, and he smiled at the sight of a young pair of mermaids bickering over a collection of pearls. Tiny green faeries played among the flowers in the park, and he ran into the occasional werewolf on the streets, recognizable by their loping gait and their slightly feral eyes. He even crossed a warlock, one he knew only by sight. They nodded politely to each other as they crossed each other, the warlock flapping his black bat wings behind him. He took in a breath of fresh air and let it out slowly. This walk was doing him good - already he felt much calmer than he had when he'd left the Institute in a hurry.

"-min, hey, Jimin!" He whipped around, pulling his earbuds out as he did so. At first he saw no one, too distracted by the crowd around him, but then he spotted Hwasa waving at him energetically from across the street. Wheein was with her, waving just as enthusiastically. Smiling, he quickly crossed the street to greet them.

"Hey, guys, what are you doing here?" he asked, pleasantly surprised.

"We're showing our visitors around the city, of course," Hwasa chuckled. "They're over there, in that music shop over there. Me and Wheein were going to grab some water from the corner store over there."

"Speaking of our visitors, where on earth were you and Taehyung yesterday?" Wheein asked curiously. "Didn't Seokjin tell you that Moonbyul's cousin and his friends were coming to visit us from Tokyo?"

"Oh, I completely forgot," Jimin gasped. "I was a little distracted yesterday, sorry." He grimaced sheepishly. "Tae was with me, too. Was Seokjin very angry?"

"Well...." The two girls exchanged looks. "He was more worried than angry, actually. I wouldn't get on his nerves too much today, if I were you."

"JIMIN!" a loud voice exclaimed. The three Shadowhunters all jumped.

"Speak of the devil," Hwasa muttered, eyes wide, as Seokjin stormed over to them.

"Where on earth were you yesterday??" he ranted, hands on his hips. "And what are you doing out of the Institute, alone?"

Jimin winced apologetically. "Sorry, hyung," he murmured, pouting up at him cutely. He was ready to use all the charm in his possession to avoid the scolding that Seokjin was clearly hyping himself up to deliver. "Me and Tae were a little distracted last night. We totally forgot about the visitors from Tokyo."

More boys were pouring out of the small store, he noticed, and not all of them were familiar. He spotted Solar and Moonbyul giving him tiny waves from behind Seokjin, and Namjoon was laying a comforting hand on his distressed lover's shoulder, but the others were all complete strangers.

"It's okay," one of them told Seokjin, trying to calm him down. "We don't mind. Do we?" The other boys all shook their heads, murmuring affirmations. "See?" the first boy continued, shooting Jimin a friendly smile. "Don't be too mad at the kid."

Seokjin stiffened, then let out a heavy breath. His tense shoulders slumped down again, and he shot Jimin a rueful glare. "Don't do that again, though," he warned the smaller boy. "Next time, you and Tae aren't getting off this easily."

"Sure, hyung!" Jimin chirped, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. "Thanks," he hissed to the boy who had talked Seokjin out of his rant, smiling gratefully at him as the small group made its way down the street.

"No problem," the stranger grinned. Another boy wrapped his arm around his shoulder, peering down at Jimin.

"Aww," he cooed, and Jimin blushed. "How cute," the koala gushed in a high pitched tone, clinging obstinately to his friend. "Isn't he cute, hyung?" he asked the boy he was practically hanging off, and the other agreed, reaching out to squeeze Jimin's cheeks.

"Awww," they both grinned, and Jimin pushed their hands away, embarrassed.

"I'm Eunkwang, by the way," the first boy introduced himself as the group headed back towards the Institute. "How old are you, Jimin?"

"I'm a 95er," he said, and the koala-like boy pouted.

"You're the same age as Sungjae, huh?" He sounded strangely petulant. "That rascal, not even calling me hyung - don't become like him, okay, Jimin-ah?" he told him sulkily. "He's the worst! He makes fun of me all the time. He's so _childish_."

"As if you're not just as childish as he is, Changsub hyung," Ilhoon put in from behind them, rolling his eyes.

"Don't compare me to that whiny baby!" Changsub protested, outraged. "I'm better than him, thank you!" He pouted again and aimed a kick at Ilhoon's shins.

"Ow, hyung!!!" Ilhoon shrieked, hopping around on one leg, clutching his sore ankle.

Changsub just stuck out his tongue, and Jimin laughed. He liked these guys - they were funny and easy-going. Before long, they were laughing and joking around like old friends, and Jimin had all but forgotten about his sad mood.

"Jimin!" a voice called him loudly as soon as the group set foot in the institute. He startled, recognizing Yoongi who came striding over to him. He'd been pacing around in the entrance hall all afternoon, waiting for Jimin to return from his little walk. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh," he stammered, looking around quickly. "Sorry hyung, but I was actually gonna go show Eunkwang hyung and Changsub hyung around the library!" He grabbed the two unsuspecting boys' arms and started dragging them away from the mint haired Shadowhunter. "Sorry!" he called over his shoulder. "Maybe later!" And Yoongi was left alone with a group of curious teenagers, his mouth hanging slightly open in surprise.

"What was that about?" Seokjin asked his friend, but Yoongi just shrugged and scowled. Apparently, he thought irritably, Jimin was going to play the avoiding game with him.

\----------------------------------------------------------

"What was all that about, just now?" Eunkwang asked the same thing, sounding slightly amused as the red faced boy let go of their arms once they were around the corner. Jimin looked down, shuffling his feet anxiously.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I actually don't want to talk to him right now," he explained. "Sorry for dragging you off like that."

"Nah," Changsub grinned, linking his arm with Jimin's. "You promised to show us the library, didn't you?"

Jimin smiled guiltily back. "I guess," he giggled, leading them towards the library.

Chatting animatedly, the three of them sat in a small nook in the corner of the huge room, hugging puffy cushions and reclining on soft pouffes and beanbags and having the time of their life.

All too soon, it was time for dinner and the three traipsed out of their cosy corner to join the others at table. Jimin deliberately took a seat between Eunkwang and Changsub, across the table from Taehyung who raised his left eyebrow at him, their sign to ask their Parabatai, "Are you OK?". He nodded minutely, giving him a tiny smile, and his best friend grinned back, looking relieved.

Taehyung himself was seated next to his new friend Sungjae, with whom he exchanged lame jokes and mimicked animals using their vegetables, all through the dinner. Jimin burst out laughing hysterically when Taehyung waggled him eyebrows suggestively at him, two mini baby carrots forming a mustache over his upper lip, and everyone had to crack a smile at Sungjae's excellent 'cow eating grass' impression.

The only two not amused nor pleased by the presence of the Tokyo newcomers were Jungkook, who kept missing his mouth with his fork because of how concentrated he was on Taehyung, shooting jealous glares at Sungjae; and Yoongi, who was brooding at the far end of the table, prodding at his food with his fork and glaring balefully at the boisterous duo surrounding Jimin. 

He didn't like the way the two idiots' faces lit up whenever they were watching his little mochi, the way they called him Jiminnie or simply Minnie without even asking for permission, and the way they were always so loud and happy all the time. Try as he might, he just couldn't help the jealousy that was rearing its head inside his heart, waking up and starting to roar loudly.

As soon as the meal was over, he stood and made his way to Jimin, who was giggling stupidly at a joke Changsub had told, but as soon as the younger spotted him coming, he shot up like a bullet.

"Eunkwang hyung, come on! Let's go watch that movie we were talking about!" he yelped, grabbing the bemused boy and legging it out of the room. Yoongi huffed. This was slowly getting annoying.

 

This little dance between him and Jimin continued for longer than he'd thought possible - he'd even caught the others making bets on how long it would take before Yoongi finally caught up to the lithe, light-footed evader. The longest best was Jungkook's, who thought Jimin would manage to survive the whole week. He and Taehyung were still on slightly uncomfortable terms - Taehyung knew Jungkook wasn't dating Yoongi, but he was still clueless to the youngest's crush on him, and to Jungkook's eternal frustration, Taehyung had only gotten closer to Sungjae in Jimin's absence. He hated feeling like an outsider as he watched the 95-ers, minus Jimin, laugh and giggle as they talked among themselves and went out for fun-filled trips to the mall or the local parks.

Yoongi had also conveniently forgotten to tell Jungkook that Taehyung knew about their misunderstanding, and so Jungkook spent many a miserable night trying to think up ways to clear up the air between him and Taehyung. To tell the truth, Yoongi couldn't care less - he was way too focused on his own dire situation.

"Hey, Jimin-"

"Oh! Look at the time! Sorry hyung, gotta go!"

"Jimin, can we talk-"

"Oops, sorry Yoongi, I promised Peniel hyung I'd take him to Hongdae today! See you later!"

"Jimin-"

"Sorry, Eunkwang hyung needs me-"

"Ya, Jimin-ah,"

"Mmm, later hyung, I'm busy right now-"

"Hey, can we finally talk?"

"Sorry, I'm going out shopping with the others!"

"Ya, Park Jimin!!"

Yoongi couldn't take this anymore. It was the n-th time he'd tried to confront the younger, and he was also getting sick of the way Jimin was always clinging to the Tokyo Shadowhunters as if they were his lifeline. Jimin was also avoiding Taehyung, who'd taken pity on his mint-haired hyung and tried to set him up with Yoongi at the beginning of the week. As a result, he was always with Eunkwang or Changsub, and sometimes with Peniel, Minhyuk, Ilhoon or Hyunsik, who were all fond of the small mochi-like boy and indulged in his every whim. Eunkwang especially doted on Jimin, always beaming down at the bubbly, cute dongsaeng, and Yoongi was incredibly jealous of the (to him) flirty looks the two kept exchanging.

Seokjin and Hoseok had already dropped out of the bet - Seokjin had confidently bet that Jimin would cave before the next day was up, and Hoseok had thought Yoongi would manage to corner him somehow within two days. Both were wrong, to their eternal amazement - this avoiding game had already went on for 4 whole days. Yoongi's patience was at an all time low.

Jimin jumped, scared by the loud shout. He'd been reading in the library, and tried to scuttle away as a furious Yoongi stormed over to him. His way was blocked by the angry Shadowhunter who crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's your excuse this time?" he asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Do you need to go snuggle up with your precious Eunkwang hyung again?"

Jimin scowled. "Don't talk about him like that! He's really nice! Unlike you," he shot back, trying to push past his hyung.

"Not so fast," Yoongi growled, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. His tight grip on his wrist didn't hurt, but it was firm enough to tell him that he was going nowhere until their conversation was over. It didn't stop him from trying to squirm away however, hopeless as he knew it was, complaining all the while. Huffing an exasperated sigh, Yoongi tugged at the younger boy, spinning him around until his back hit the bookshelf and pinning him there. Jimin gulped, abruptly falling silent. He was intensely aware of the position they were in, Yoongi towering above him despite their (almost) identical height, one hand pinning Jimin's arm against the bookshelf and the other braced beside his head, keeping him from escaping.

" _Now_ will you listen?" Yoongi asked snarkily, raising an irritable brow. Swallowing hard, Jimin nodded timidly. "Good," Yoongi huffed.

"First off," he began, his low, gravelly voice doing things to Jimin's suddenly wobbly legs. "Why are you avoiding me?"

Jimin looked away, pouting slightly, and Yoongi made an annoyed sound, tapping the smaller boy's chin with his finger to bring his eyes back up to meet his again. Jimin flushed a rich red as deep, dark eyes bored into his. 

"I wasn't," he protested defiantly. Yoongi rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right," he replied. "You could have fooled me, running off in the opposite direction whenever I came anywhere near you."

Jimin's pout grew more pronounced, and Yoongi couldn't help the way his eyes flickered downwards for a microsecond. Thankfully, Jimin hadn't noticed.

"Fine," he snapped. "I don't want to talk to you, Yoongi, OK?"

"Why not?" Yoongi asked in a low, slightly threatening voice, shifting slightly closer. 

"I- I just don't," Jimin stumbled over his words, shrinking back into the bookshelf.

"Mm. Really," Yoongi all but purred, eyes darkening. "That just makes things even worse," he stated, startling Jimin.

"Wha- what do you mean?" he gulped, confused.

"You _just didn't want to talk to me_ \- so then, you went and plastered yourself all over other guys, _just_ so you could avoid me?" He tutted. "Shameless behavior, in my opinion. If you had a reason, I might have understood, but this - disappointing, to be honest."

"No!" Jimin gasped, appalled. "I mean, there was a reason, but it- it's embarrassing-" He paused then, suddenly. "Wait a second," he continued indignantly, "Why do _you_ care? And I wasn't _plastering_ _myself_ over anyone!"

"No?" Yoongi growled angrily. "Then why were you clinging to that Eunkwang guy's arm all the time, looking like a lovesick puppy?"

"I wasn't!"

"Yeah right! You were hanging off his every word!"

"I was not! Stop making things up!" Both were red faced and yelling by then.

"Yes you were! If you like him all that much, why don't you follow him to Tokyo when he leaves? Then you wouldn't have to bother to run away from me all the time!"

"I would never, because I like YOU!!"

Both boys shut up rather suddenly, realizing what Jimin had just screamed at him. 

Yoongi blinked rapidly, a tiny smile starting to spread across his face. Jimin was mortified. He wanted nothing more than to run away from Yoongi's piercing stare and bury himself somewhere, never showing his stupid embarrassed face to the world again.

"I, I mean," he stammered, trying to clear up the mess, "I didn't mean I _like_ like you, I just mean as a hyung, you know?" he rambled, getting more and more worked up and humiliated as he continued. He almost felt like bursting into tears. This wasn't how he'd wanted things to go, not at all.

"You like me," Yoongi repeated smugly. It wasn't a question, but a statement. Jimin groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, hyung," he moaned into his hands. "I didn't mean to, I promise! I was just upset, because I've liked you for a long time," he babbled, looking up desperately and grabbing the front of Yoongi's shirt, apologizing over and over again with wide, pleading eyes. "And I know you've got Jungkookie now," he continued, "and I swear I won't make things awkward for you, really I won't! I'm really happy for you two, and I won't get in the way, I promise! Jungkookie's really attractive, so I understand why you like him, I mean, I could never be like him-"

"Jimin," Yoongi interrupted, stopping Jimin's ranting. "Shut up."

Jimin's face fell and he let his hands drop, looking down at the floor. Yoongi sighed a little and slid a hand under the crestfallen boy's chin, raising his face to look him in the eyes.

"Jimin," he said carefully, pronouncing each word slowly so Jimin couldn't miss a thing. "I'm not dating Jungkook."

Jimin blinked several times, utterly confused. Yoongi couldn't help cooing internally at the adorable sight before him, the chubby cheeked teenager blinking confusedly up at him with tear tracks still staining his cheeks.

"Huh?" he asked, unable to understand Yoongi's words. "But- but I saw you- I heard him confess! You- you said you liked him too, I thought that meant..." he trailed off, unsure, and Yoongi smiled again.

"Jungkook doesn't like me, and I don't like him either, not in that way, at least," he explained gently. "He likes someone else, he was practicing the best way to confess to his crush on me, you guys heard only a part of it and drew the wrong conclusion."

Jimin's mouth dropped open slightly as he tried to wrap his mind around this new turn of events. "Then..." he whispered timidly, "then you two aren't together?"

Yoongi shook his head fondly.

"You... don't like Kookie?"

"Nope," he replied, grinning. "I like you."

Jimin squeaked in surprise.

"I like you, Park Jimin, and I have for a while. I'm sorry for being such a coward and not telling you earlier - if I had, we could have saved us from all this mess," he said ruefully. "You were driving me crazy, you know," he added, pulling the stunned boy closer and wrapping an arm around his waist. "I was going mad with jealousy. I became scared you might not want me after all this mess, that you might be starting to like that Eunkwang guy instead. Hell, I didn't even know for sure if you'd ever liked me at all!" He exclaimed, shaking his head at the memory. He looked down at Jimin, who was finally catching up to the fact that his crush wasn't dating one of his friends, and that he even liked him back.

"Tell me you're not lying," he said weakly, clutching at Yoongi's shirt and burying his face into his chest. He found comfort in the steady thudding of Yoongi's heart, and smiled a little when the heartbeat stuttered and sped up.

"I'm not lying," he repeated dutifully, hugging his dongsaeng tight and kissing the top of his head fondly. Jimin squeaked again at that, small hands gripping Yoongi's waist, embarrassed. 

"I like you, Jimin-ah," Yoongi murmured softly, nuzzling the younger's soft hair. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

Jimin pulled back at that, beaming so wide that his eyes almost disappeared. "Yes!" he cheered, throwing his arms around his new boyfriend's neck. Both boys sighed in relief and contentment as he buried his face into Yoongi's neck, matching smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Jimin?" Yoongi whispered into his boyfriend's ears after a short moment, pulling away from their tender embrace.

"Mmm?" Jimin hummed happily.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked carefully, blushing slightly. Jimin's eyes flew open and he also flushed bright red, gulping in anticipation as he nodded shyly.

Slowly, Yoongi stepped closer to Jimin again, backing him against the bookshelf. Jimin's eyes flickered down to Yoongi's lips then back up, his heart thudding so fast he could barely hear anything else. Yoongi leaned in, eyes darkening with intent as he drew closer, until their lips met and their eyes fluttered closed, Jimin raising his arms to wind them around Yoongi's neck and Yoongi placing his large hands on the other's waist.

Jimin almost moaned when Yoongi's tongue flickered out to run along his lower lip and he opened up eagerly, allowing the older to deepen the kiss. The air grew more heated, the kiss growing slowly deeper and more desperately passionate. Jimin arched his back slightly, trying to get even closer to Yoongi who ran his hands up the other's back, wrapping one arm around his waist and entangling the other in his soft, fluffy brown hair. Jimin gasped in surprise when he bit his lower lip lightly, tugging at it a little before smoothing it back out with his tongue.

"Yoongi," he gasped almost inaudibly, and Yoongi let out a low growl in response, sliding a thigh between Jimin's legs as he stepped impossibly closer. Jimin clutched at Yoongi's back at that, gasping and whimpering slightly. They thudded back against the bookshelf when he lost control of his legs, Yoongi's grip on him the only thing keeping them from collapsing to the floor.

"Jimin," Yoongi panted, pulling back slightly to look at the boy he'd pined after for so long, a fierce sort of pride and possessiveness growing in him at the sight of the swollen, red lips and hooded, lust-filled gaze. _Mine_ , something inside him growled, knowing that it was him who'd done that to the younger, that it was _him_ who had this wonderful boy's love and not any other.

"Beautiful," he whispered to his boyfriend, which made him blush madly and shake his head, smiling bashfully. Embarrassed, he buried his face back into Yoongi's chest, and the other laughed fondly, pulling him back up to brush kisses on his forehead, his eyelids, his cute little nose, his red chubby cheeks, his jaw and finally his lips. "It's true," he laughed softly, the corners of his lips curling up against the other's. Jimin smiled back at that, pressing upwards to kiss him back, this time a slow, happy kiss instead of a passionate, burning hot one.

"You, too," he confessed shyly afterwards, hiding his red face by nosing under Yoongi's jaw.

"Hmm?" the older asked, peering down at his boyfriend.

"You're beautiful, too," Jimin muttered, too embarrassed to speak any louder. Yoongi's smile widened, and he chuckled, pleased. 

"I didn't hear you," he teased. "What did you say?"

"Aish, hyung!" Jimin whined, pulling away and pouting. Yoongi laughed and tugged the adorable boy back, wrapping both arms tightly around him.

"Thank you," he breathed into Jimin's hair, making the younger squirm in order to peer up at the other.

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"For everything," Yoongi said solemnly.

Jimin giggled, pleased, and kissed him on the cheek, grinning cheekily. "You should be," he teased him, eyes crinkling up into little crescents. "You get to have me for a boyfriend. Not many people get to have that honor, consider it a great privilege."

Yoongi groaned, rolling his eyes. "I take that back," he grumbled halfheartedly, but he tightened his arms around Jimin anyways.

"You love me," Jimin laughed, and Yoongi smiled despite himself.

"That I do," he agreed, laughing back softly, "that I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEWWW!!! Finally! Yoonmin got together, yay. This chapter took so long to writeeeee I'm sorry guys :( I hope I didn't disappoint? I had a lot of fun writing the last part though.
> 
> And also I just love the fact that Tae can make friends in a freaking BATHROOM, you know? He has so many bathroom friends, and Sungjae is just one of them. Since I love both groups and both boys, I just love this friendship so much. Plus, they are slightly similar, in the way they're so extra, and make such hilarious meme faces. I wanted to make the bathroom scene funny, but I'm not sure I really succeeded... Still, I had fun writing it, and I could totally see their faces haha
> 
> Also I suck at writing hot steamy scenes lol I just can't write smut omg... So I guess this fic won't go past pg 13...? unless I somehow overcome my problem and manage to write some more mature scenes hahahaha........ XD


	12. Baby, me like yuh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers, I've been posting some one-shots separately from this fic, since I couldn't really fit them in the storyline of this main fic! They're all a part of this Shadowhunter BTS series, go check them out and subscribe to the series if you want to read more! So far, I've added a short, funny vmin one-shot and another one where little Yoongi and Hoseok meet warlock Namjoon for the first time. I'm planning on adding more as I write them, I hope you like the additional background info these will provide you with! ^^
> 
> Also, sorry for the late updates! I'm really busy this summer, so I haven't had the time to write too much...

 The huge training hall was almost empty, one lone figure punching away at a well padded dummy in the middle of the room. The dull thwacking sounds that each blow made felt oddly satisfying to the lone trainee, resonating through the echoing hall and floating up to the rafters high above.

Step, step - thud thud. Jump back lightly then repeat. The boy concentrated on his form, keeping his core steady, his feet in line. His teacher Yoongi's stern voice in his mind reminded him of the things he had to work on. _Keep the arm straight as you punch, but not locked in place. That will make the shock reverberate through your whole body. When you jab, aim for the chin. Short powerful jabs, not soft pushes - keep your elbows in and your guard up, idiot! How many times do I have to tell you?_

Step step - thud thud. Pause. Step step, thud thud. Jump back. Repeat. Step step, thud thud. Pause. Step step, thud _crunch_ \- The figure cursed and doubled up, clutching at his hand. A flood of cuss words and muttered curses mixed in with pained hisses escaped the boy as he slowly straightened up and examined his hurt hand. It was nothing serious, he noted with relief, shaking the sore limb out with apprehension. He'd missed the padded chest and face of the human sized dummy and hit the wooden pole instead - his knuckles were bruised and bleeding lightly but thankfully not broken.

He sighed. Rummaging in the pocket of his sweatpants, he drew out his stele and drew a small _iratze_ on his bicep. He hissed lightly as the rune burned - he wasn't too used to the process of marking himself with runes just yet. Still, his arms already bore many more marks than they had just a few weeks before - now, the runes for strength and agility, endurance and equilibrium trailed deep black trails up and down his arms, alongside many more. Sighing again, he tossed his stele down on the thick mat near the wall, stretching tiredly. It was 2 in the morning and he still couldn't sleep, so he'd ended up here, working out his frustration by practicing his moves again and again. That week's lessons were all about physical combat, which was why he was learning all about how to punch and jab, kick, duck and roll, block and evade. 

"Jungkookie, what're you do- doing up?" yawned a sleepy voice from behind him. Surprised, he turned to see a bleary-eyed Jimin, rubbing his eyes with an adorably tiny fist. His other hand was covered by the sleeves of his oversized shirt and he had a soft warm blanket draped around his shoulders.

"I couldn't sleep," he confessed sheepishly. "Why are _you_ up, hyung?"

"Bad dream," murmured Jimin with a pout. "I was gonna go to Yoongi hyung's room but I got thirsty so I went to get a drink first." He stifled another yawn behind his hand before continuing. "The light was on here so I came to see who was training at this time of night."

"Oh," Jungkook grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "So you were going to Yoongi hyung's room, huh?" Jimin scowled and snapped his wrist, whipping the blanket at Jungkook like a lash. Jungkook laughed and dodged easily. The two boys' brand new relationship had been outed to the the whole Institute the day before when Taehyung and Sungjae had walked in on the two of them kissing. The pair had then proceeded to scream as loudly as they could (which was, indeed, _super fucking loud,_ according to one annoyed Min Yoongi) and had brought the rest of the crew running, believing the Institute was somehow, impossibly, under attack.

"Brat," Jimin muttered, but his fond tone made it clear he wasn't really all that mad at the younger. Wrapping the blanket securely around himself once again, he hid another yawn behind his hand. "So you're not gonna go sleep?" he asked, worried about his dongsaeng.

"I guess I'll have to eventually," Jungkook sighed, "but I just can't sleep. Too many thoughts."

"Oh," was the only answer he got, Jimin already halfway to falling asleep on his feet.

"Go sleep, hyung," Jungkook bit back a laugh, patting his smaller friend on the back.

"Mm," Jimin murmured, too tired to protest. "Go t'sleep soon, Kook-ah. S'late." He shuffled slowly around and left the hall, yawning yet again as he left. 

Jungkook turned back to the dummy with a small smile, which quickly fell away as he stared distastefully at the inanimate figure. _Screw it_ , he thought, pulling off the thin protective bandage-like-gloves that had been covering his hand and tossing them to the ground. He followed their path soon after, flopping to the floor and staring up at the ceiling. The smooth wooden planks cooled his hot skin as he lay sprawled in a starfish position, both legs and arms spread wide.

He knew exactly why he couldn't sleep - his thoughts were filled with all sorts of worries, many of them featuring a certain boy with a box-smile and fluffy brown hair. He swore he was going crazy with the way the object of his sleep-depriving thoughts kept teasing him, invading his private space and initiating all sorts of skinship one moment then seemingly dancing out of his reach, infuriatingly far away, the next. He knew by now that touching and cuddling were just Taehyung's way of showing affection, hugging people and clinging to them like a little koala, but it still confused and bewildered him whenever he sent him such mixed signs.

Another thing that kept bothering him was the way Taehyung kept hanging out with Sungjae. Jimin he had no problem with - he was Taehyung's Parabatai, after all, and besides, he knew Jimin had Yoongi. Now, Yook Sungjae was another question entirely. The guy was handsome - even he had to admit that - and funny, bright, talkative and most importantly, he had the same slightly unusual, special way of thinking that Taehyung did. You could call it a _sparkle_ , or maybe a slight craziness. 4D-thinking, alien-ness, all those worked too. Jungkook could practically _see_ Taehyung light up whenever he and Sungjae shared a strange thought or special idea that no one else understood. It made him both jealous and worried.

 

Little did Jungkook know that Kim Taehyung was well aware of the way he felt - or at the very least, had a pretty good idea of it. Taehyung was in no way dumb, even though his brother often teased him about his frequent Blank Tae moments when he spaced out, looking spectacularly gormless with his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes unfocused. He'd noticed the way Jungkook looked at him, especially when he was with Sungjae, and the way he blushed and stuttered whenever his teasing got too much.

It pleased him, especially since he himself liked the younger boy very, very much.

He'd therefore been relieved to find that his suspicions about Jungkook and Yoongi's relationship were correct. The sheer _amount_ of relief he'd felt when Yoongi had confirmed his thoughts had been what led him to realize his feelings for Jungkook. The heady rush of happiness he'd felt had been  _far_ , far above the amount of relief he should have felt about his best friend's crush not dating someone else. 

Sungjae was fun to be with and they got along spectacularly well, but he wasn't Jungkook. He didn't make him feel butterflies in his stomach, or want to kiss him senseless. He didn't find himself trailing after the other with his eyes, drooling over his every move. He didn't daydream about Sungjae's smile or his voice. No matter how handsome or funny he was, he didn't think about him in that way. He did for Jungkook. Oh, yes; Jeon Jungkook somehow made him experience all these and more. 

Sungjae found this all hilarious. He loved riling Jungkook up secretly, being extra attentive and caring to Taehyung whenever their jealous Maknae was watching. And that was where Taehyung got his brilliant idea - he would try to make Jungkook jealous and possessive enough to stand up for himself and finally confess. He and Sungjae drew up the plan one night in his room, giggling like schoolgirls from under the blanket fort they'd constructed. Jimin, once the Yoonmin fiasco was over, was immediately let into the know, and the three troublemakers spent many an hour brainstorming ideas on just how to get shy, insecure Jungkook to confess his feelings.

Once Jimin knew, Yoongi did also, by extension. He was mightily amused by the whole thing, since he knew just how much Jungkook liked Taehyung. He decided he wouldn't take part in the whole project, instead electing to sit back and watch the drama unfold, preferably with a tub of popcorn in his hands and his boyfriend to cuddle up to beside him. 

The big plan was put into motion on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The Tokyo Institute boys were leaving on the following Wednesday, and Jungkook honestly couldn't have been happier about it. He really liked the Tokyo boys, but his jealous side kept getting in the way of really enjoying his time with them, and so he was really looking forward to the day when they - he and his friends - would be left on their own once more. The three 95 liner boys plus Yoongi the ever present boyfriend and a slightly reluctant Jungkook were going out to watch a movie and then go shopping, maybe eat something, just have fun in general. Jimin had pestered Jungkook into going, despite how unwilling the youngest was to ' _fifth wheel you idiots_ '.

So far, all of Jungkook's worst fears were coming true. Yoongi was absolutely no help at all, always glued to Jimin's side, listening to whatever he was twittering on about in a high, happy voice with absolute goo-goo eyes. Taehyung and Sungjae were similarly glued to each other, whispering about something he couldn't make out and giggling like fools. Jungkook trailed behind them miserably, glaring at Sungjae's annoyingly broad back and thinking about how much he hated the shade of blue that he was wearing. Something that annoyed him just as much as the way they were acting was the fact that the two boys' long overcoats were practically the same, save their color. Sungjae wore a vibrant blue trench coat, neatly buttoned up, while Taehyung wore a similar camel one, hanging open over a brown and white striped jumper. _They looked like a couple_ , Jungkook thought sadly.

"Jungkookie~!!" Taehyung called, turning to look behind him with a smile.

Jungkook jumped, startled. "Yes, hyung?"

"Come on, the movie's about to start!" Grinning happily, Taehyung grabbed Jungkook's arm and pulled him into the theater. Jungkook's heart bounded in happiness that his hyung was finally noticing him. _This time, he would get Taehyung to sit beside_ him _and not that annoying intruder,_ he vowed to himself. Steeling himself, he turned to the excited boy next to him and cleared his throat.

"Hyung, do you want to sit next to me....?" His voice trailed off as he saw Taehyung waving to Sungjae who smiled and patted the empty seat between him and Jimin. He sighed, resigned to his fate.

"Jungkookie, I'm really sorry but there are no more seats in this row!" Jimin exclaimed to the crestfallen Maknae who looked up, incredulous. "Don't worry though, we saved you a seat just behind us!"

"Behind-" Jungkook spluttered, indignant. He couldn't believe this. Huffing, he plopped down in the seat Jimin indicated, grumbling to himself. He had a perfect view of Taehyung and Sungjae's seats from here, he discovered in dismay. All through the movie, he couldn't concentrate, too distracted by the way the two boys in front of him were whispering among themselves. His eyes widened as he saw Taehyung rub Sungjae's ear. Taehyung often did that to him, too, rubbing his ear randomly or just fondling them, squishing the soft lower parts like clay. He felt somewhat disappointed and more than a little betrayed that Taehyung was doing the same thing to Sungjae. Before he even knew it, the movie was over and the five were trailing out of the cinema, stretching to relieve their cramped muscles.

"Oh," Jimin exclaimed, stopping short at the door. It was raining, and none of them had thought to bring umbrellas. Yoongi sighed and pulled Jimin close, taking off his coat and using it to cover both their heads as they headed outside. Jimin blushed, giggling happily, and Jungkook rolled his eyes, pulling his own coat over his own head. He was just about to step outside when he saw something that made him stop short. His heart thumped loudly, once, twice, before falling down, down, down, settling in the bottom of his stomach as if filled with lead. Taehyung had pulled off his coat and was holding it over Sungjae's head, not even bothering to cover his own self. Jungkook noticed dully how Taehyung was just a little taller than Sungjae, allowing him to rest the arm holding his coat on Sungjae's shoulder. Everything seemed dull, as if he was looking through a thick glass. He watched Sungjae smile bashfully, one hand sneaking out to hold onto Taehyung's sweater, and felt his heart give another pained thud. The two seemed so happy together, as if they were in their own world. He looked down at his feet. His eyes became strangely blurry as he stared down at his shoes, not really seeing his Timberlands properly through a layer of tears.

"Jungkook...?" he heard, Taehyung's voice sounding oddly concerned. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and jerked away as if burned. "Kookie?" Taehyung asked, really worried now as he stepped closer. Jungkook stepped back blindly. He felt so stupid. Why was he acting like this? Taehyung grabbed his hand, trying to pull him back to reality, and Jungkook ripped it away before turning and sprinting out into the rain. "Jungkook!" Taehyung yelled, chasing after the distraught boy. _This wasn't the way things were supposed to go_ , he thought wildly as he dashed through a puddle in pursuit of the fleeing Shadowhunter. Sungjae stared after the two, just as worried as Taehyung. He knew better than to follow them, but he hoped with all his heart that they managed to clear things up. He hadn't expected the youngest boy to react so strongly to their acting and he felt bad about it. If Jungkook got seriously hurt because of this, because of him, he knew he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, and so he prayed to every deity he knew that when the two came back, they would be smiling and holding hands.

 

\-----------------------------------------------

"Jungkook! Wait up!" panted Taehyung as he chased behind Jungkook. The boy was fast, so much faster than Taehyung, and he was having trouble catching up to those powerful long legs. Jungkook meanwhile was too embarrassed to stop. He felt ashamed of the tears that were sparkling on his face, and was grateful to the rain for disguising the tear tracks so well. "Jeon Jungkook! Will you stop running aw- oof!" Jungkook skidded to an immediate halt at the pained grunt Taehyung let out behind him and spun round to see the other grimacing in pain on the ground as a worried cyclist apologized for running into him. 

"Hyung!" he gasped, worried, hurrying back and falling to his knees beside the fallen boy. He fluttered his hands over Taehyung's body, unsure where to touch him to check he wasn't hurt. He shot a death glare at the cyclist who was still apologizing, and the stranger gulped at the deadly look he was being given.

"M'okay, Kook-ah," Taehyung grunted, sitting up and wincing at the pain that shot through his body. "I'm fine, don't worry," he repeated reassuringly to the sorry stranger, who apologized once again before pulling up his bike and slowly cycling away, still shooting worried glances back at the pair on the ground.

"You idiot!" Jungkook scolded, pulling off his coat to wrap it around the soaked and muddy Taehyung. The rain was letting up now, fading to a light drizzle. "Why didn't you look where you were going?"

Taehyung huffed in annoyance. "I was kind of busy trying to catch up to you, you know." Jungkook sighed and looked down guiltily.

"Sorry, hyung," he mumbled. Taehyung just frowned and caught his hand, tugging him closer until he could throw his arms around his neck.

"Why did you run away like that?" he complained, dropping his head onto the space between Jungkook's shoulders and his neck, nuzzling his cold red nose into the younger's wet clammy skin. He ignored the way Jungkook's heart started speeding up and let out a content sigh when hesitant arms came up to wrap themselves around his body.

"I uh, I was just..." Jungkook trailed off, unsure what to say to explain his sudden escape. Taehyung puffed a hot exasperated breath against his collarbones and Jungkook's breath hitched slightly as his ears reddened. The older boy pulled back slightly to scowl up at the one he was clinging to, water clinging to his long eyelashes and making his eyes look starry and out of this world.

"You weren't supposed to get upset!" he whined, pouting unhappily. Jungkook stared down at him, utterly confused. The way Taehyung was looking up at him was _not_ helping him concentrate - he kept getting distracted by the delicate beauty of the boy staring up at him.

"What?" he asked, and Taehyung rolled his pretty brown eyes. "You were supposed to get all jealous and pull Sungjae off of me, not get upset and run away!" he scolded, hitting Jungkook's chest with a lightly clenched fist. "You almost gave me a heart attack, making me feel like an utter douche!"

"I- what?" repeated poor confused Jungkook, who just couldn't understand what Taehyung was saying. "Then... are you saying that was all an act?"

Taehyung rolled his eyes. "Well, duh," he shot back, "no shit, Sherlock." He paused, before correcting himself, " _Almost_ all. We weren't expecting it to rain, but the rest of it was planned, yeah."

"But... why?" Jungkook asked, brain still too confused to catch up to Taehyung's trail of thought.

"Why do you think?" Taehyung cried, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "Because you wouldn't tell the truth and just confess already!" He stopped there, realizing he'd said too much.

"You... knew?" Jungkook asked, face starting to grow red in anger and embarrassment. "You knew I liked you?"

Taehyung tried to backtrack quickly. "No! I mean, I suspected! So I was just, just trying to help you to confess." The damage was done, though.

"By making me jealous?" Jungkook asked quietly, voice darkening in anger. Twin pinpricks of red had appeared in his cheeks, and his eyes were stormy with irritation.

"Yes," squeaked Taehyung, looking down in shame. Jungkook pulled away from him and Taehyung's arms dropped limply to his lap.

"So you knew I liked you, and instead of talking to me about it, you decided to make an utter fool of me by telling someone else and involving him in a plan to make me lose my cool and blurt out my feelings?" Jungkook asked in a deadly calm, low voice that had Taehyung cowering, ashamed.

"I thought... I thought it might make it easier for you to confess," he defended himself in a tiny, shaking voice.

"That wasn't your choice to make!" Jungkook roared, finally losing his temper. "By the Angel, hyung, that wasn't up to you to decide for me! Don't you get it?" He gestured wildly with both hands. "If I was going to confess, I should have been left to do so on my own terms! By doing this, you take away all the meaning, all the importance of the confession. Do you even know why I was having such a hard time telling you how I felt?"

Taehyung shook his head silently.

"I lived on the streets for years before I joined the Shadowhunter academy, hyung. My own parents threw me out, calling me a freak and telling me they didn't need a problem child like me. I lived all this time, looking out for only myself, determined not to get hurt any more. I decided not to let anyone hurt me, decided to keep my heart locked away, never letting myself open up and start liking someone, not even letting myself make any friends. And then I met you, and I started thinking that maybe I didn't have to stay like that all my life, that maybe I could try trusting someone else with my heart again. And you, you just threw all that effort I took, coaxing my heart out of its shell, convincing myself to let go and just try trusting you, you threw all that away by treating it as if it was _nothing_." He was shaking by now, trembling with anger and hurt.

"Is this all a joke to you? Is it so easy for you to just give your heart away, offering it up to people for them to treat as they wish?" Taehyung shook his head frantically, tears flooding down his cheeks. He tried to take Jungkook's hand, but he yanked it away, voice choking on his own tears.

"I really like you hyung, I don't even know why but I just do. But I'm scared. Scared to give you the power to take my heart and break it. Scared to get hurt again, like I was before. I was going to tell you when I was ready, but you- you-" he broke off, sobbing, and Taehyung felt his own heart breaking into tiny pieces at the sight of Jungkook's pain. 

"Kook-ah, I'm sorry," he apologized, crying hard. "I didn't know. I wasn't- I didn't think."

"Yeah," Jungkook laughed bitterly. "You didn't think."

Taehyung flinched slightly. "I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered. "I really didn't."

Jungkook sighed. "I know, hyung," he said quietly, voice sad and vulnerable. "You didn't know. But that doesn't make things any different."

Taehyung gulped. "What... what can I do to make things right?" he asked cautiously. "I don't want- I don't want to lose you." He hung his head, sniffling softly. Jungkook was silent for a long while, and the minutes felt like hours to Taehyung, who regretted everything he'd done that day.

"Just- just give me some time, please," he finally replied, studying the back of his hands, head hanging down. "I need time to sort out my feelings, start trusting you again. I know you didn't mean it, but it still ruined all the things I've managed to build up 'till now. I need to start again, start from the very beginning." He paused, before continuing hesitantly. "I know it will be hard, hyung, but please, could we act as if we were just friends again, just until I manage to pull myself together? I don't want things to be awkward. Please, just until I become brave enough to confess to you properly."

"Of course," Taehyung promised readily, smiling carefully at the other. "Take all the time you need. Just... just don't change your mind." He mumbled the last part, ears reddening, embarrassed. Jungkook cracked a smile for the first time since he'd started crying.

"Don't worry," he promised Taehyung. "I won't. Just wait for me, until I get brave enough to ask you out on a real date." Taehyung smiled wider at that, relieved.

"Then.. are we good?" he asked cautiously, and Jungkook nodded determinedly, meeting his gaze.

"We're good."

 

  

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew!! As much as I like reading about cute little plans where you try to make your crush jealous and fail miserably, only to find out in the end that they liked you from the start, I really don't like the way people try to manipulate others into confessing their feelings against their will.  
> Sometimes it might end well, but in my opinion it becomes much less meaningful than when you confess of your own free will, and not just in the heat of the moment. I wanted to portray how differently people might see a seemingly cute, innocent plan to make another jealous, and feel betrayed instead. I hope I didn't confuse you too much.


	13. I need a cha cha beat boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Jay Park's little 'I need a cha cha beat boy' at the beginning of his songs XD and when I remembered that the last title was from Me Like Yuh, I immediately thought of this title ;)  
> And I actually ended up searching 'best pranks to play on your friends' for this - like seriously? *facepalm*

Something felt off. Kim Seokjin prided himself on being an expert on detecting Trouble with a capital T, as in _'Trouble that the bratty maknaes either got themselves or others in'_ , and he could tell something was wrong from the moment he opened his eyes. Groaning, he sat up carefully, on guard against anything out of the ordinary. Bedroom floor? Empty of water-filled cups or pointy little massage balls. No bucket of water over his head. No giggling brother or said brother's parabatai hiding anywhere in his room. In fact, nothing seemed to have changed from when he'd gone to bed the night before. He frowned. _Then what was it? What was triggering his Trouble radar?_ Cautiously, he opened his door and padded out into the corridor, all his senses still on full alert.

Like a prowling cat, he stepped on light, pink-slipper-clad feet down the stairs and all the way to the dining hall. _Hmm. Nothing wrong here, either._ Yoongi grunted a sleepy good-morning at him from where he was slumped at the table, drinking his customary morning coffee. Yoongi made it a point to never have anything more than a single cup of coffee and one piece of buttered toast in the mornings. Jungkook was beside him, eyes drooping as his nodding head threatened to fall into his bowl of cereal. Seokjin chuckled, relaxing a little, and pulled Jungkook's hair back, quickly manipulating it into a little apple bob on the top of his head before it could dip into the milk. Jungkook startled awake with a little snort, muttering a little thanks and tiredly raising his spoon again. Chuckling and shaking his head in amusement, Seokjin headed into the kitchen. Seeing the spotless, empty kitchen, he was now almost fully convinced that he'd had a false alarm due to his fatigue. Smiling, he started humming a little tune as he headed to the fridge to make something for his breakfast.

He was the only one that bothered to actually cook something this early in the morning, the others preferring to stick to coffee, toast, cereal and juice like Yoongi and Jungkook. The girls had their own stash of muesli and yogurt in the cupboards. They even had two fridges - a tiny little one containing milk, yogurt, juice, and so on, and a larger fridge that was almost uniquely reserved for Seokjin, that contained all the ingredients needed for cooking. The reason for this unnecessary separation? Well, let's just say that leaving the fridge door open in order to seat yourself in it, just because it's _'too hot for humans'_ , will inevitably lead to a ton of spoiled food and a furious Chef Seokjin. From that day onward, the others were forbidden from touching the fridge, save for the occasional exception of Yoongi who was a surprisingly good cook. All the things that the maknaes really needed were all put into a separate fridge.

Humming happily, Seokjin opened the door of the fridge and immediately let out an earsplitting screech. From inside the fridge, dozens of big, unblinking eyes stared out at him - eyes on the fruit, eyes on each yogurt bottle, tiny little eyes on every single one of the eggs. The pièce de resistance was the large broccoli sitting smack dab in the middle of the fridge, little eyes peeking out of every little divot in the vegetable. Seokjin clutched at his racing heart and stared at the plastic googly eyes stuck on every single item in the fridge. Taking in a huge breath, he screamed,

"KIM TAEHYUNG!!!!!!!"

\-----------------------

Taehyung shrieked for help, giggling madly as he raced across the room, chased by his infuriated brother. He'd _known_ Seokjin would be the one to discover his masterpiece, since the fridge was reserved to him and him alone. He chortled gleefully at the memory of his brother's girly squeal, leaping over the banister to leap from the landing to the ground floor. He'd been bored out of his mind ever since Sungjae and his friends had left for their home. Out at the mall, he'd been browsing the art shop when he'd come across the packet of adhesive googly eyes and instantly fallen in love. His mind had been racing, thinking about the best place to stick his newly acquired treasures, when suddenly he'd remembered Seokjin and his precious fridge. He'd been hooked, straight away. With the help of Jimin, who'd been equally delighted with the idea, he'd completely rearranged the fridge so the prank would give the most impact when the doors were opened, sticking plastic little googly eyes on every single thing in sight and sometimes even drawing them little red smiles. It had taken them 3 whole hours to perfect the masterpiece and they'd gone to bed at dawn, extremely satisfied with their work.

Now, he found himself begging for forgiveness under Seokjin's unforgiving tickle attack, shrieking and snorting while writhing on the floor. He didn't regret anything.

 

That was the start of a series of seemingly never-ending pranks, played by Taehyung and Jimin with the occasional help of Hwasa and Wheein.

Most of them were played on Seokjin, who was admittedly the easiest one to prank, but Hoseok soon grew wary of closed doors and closets after half a dozen bad scares due to Taehyung and Jimin leaping out from unexpected places and Taehyung was almost murdered by an infuriated Yoongi when he flooded the bathroom that Yoongi and Hoseok shared before taking all his precious bathbombs and dumping them in the bath, resulting in a beautiful swirling mess of color that slowly spread out until it reached the white door, staining it and forming colorful patterns that took forever to wipe off. Namjoon arrived at the Institute one day to find the whole place in an uproar, Hwasa having discovered a baby crocodile ("Where did you even get that thing, anyway?" "Jackson gave it to me." *sigh* "I'm gonna kill him.") in one of the bathrooms. Another time, the girls returned to their rooms to find a huge mosaic of the angelic rune on the floor of their shared living room with their clothes serving as the material, laid out on the floor in an elaborate piece of art. A few days later, Solar found all her throwing knives replaced by rubber ones, and Wheein almost threw a fit when she discovered a fake cockroach in her soup. 

A little while after the fridge prank, Seokjin was visiting Joonmyun's pack when he found himself growing increasingly bewildered at the way the werewolves kept sniggering behind his back all day.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked Joonmyun as soon as he entered his office, plopping down on a chair and running a hand through his hair.

"No, why?" his friend asked, confused.

"Your packmates keep laughing at me for some reason," Seokjin complained. "I don't know what's wrong, I've gone to the bathroom to look in the mirror at least three times and I've never found anything worth laughing at!"

Joonmyun frowned before glancing out the open door to where Jongdae, Baekhyun and Chanyeol were peeking in, guffawing behind their hands.

"Jin," he ordered suddenly, "stand up, will you?"

Seokjin did as he was told, completely bemused. Joonmyun stood and walked around his Shadowhunter friend, only to stop and stare, horrified and amused despite himself, at Seokjin's back.

"Seokjin," he choked out, barely keeping himself from bursting into laughter as well. "Uh, maybe you should look at your back."

Seokjin froze, then slowly took off his shirt to look at the back of it. Immediately he spotted what was making the others crack up and made a horrible noise that sounded a lot like a cat choking on a hairball.

On the back of his t-shirt, someone had pasted - with some kind of glue, or double sided tape - a large photograph of the time when he'd lost a bet and been forced to dress in a bright red qipao (a traditional Chinese dress). Underneath the photograph was a large scribbled "Call me Jin Noona~!!".

He had no idea how the rascals had managed to paste the photo on his back without him noticing, but they'd managed it somehow. He _had_ to admire their stealth skills and technique, despite his fury and mortification.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," he sighed, burying his head in his hands. "Now I'm going to have to walk back to the Institute half naked."

Joonmyun let a laugh escape him, despite his best efforts. "Look on the bright side," he snorted, "at least you can mark yourself so that mundanes won't be able to see you."

\--------------------

The very next day, Seokjin sank down in his office chair only to jump up again in shock at the loud foghorn noise that blared out from under it.

"That's it," he glowered. "Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, come here, NOW!!"

Choking on silent laughter, Jimin poked his head through the office door, closely followed by a grinning Taehyung.

"Yes, hyung?" Jimin asked in an angelic voice. Seokjin scowled.

"You did this, didn't you?" he demanded angrily.

Jimin had the good grace to look ashamed, but Taehyung was unrepentant. 

"Yep!" he chirped, a wide smile on his face. This only made Seokjin even madder.

"You little-" he choked out, before making a visible effort to calm himself. "You two," he began again, his voice much quieter but with so much venom that both boys stopped smiling. "You're forbidden from being together for two weeks." The pair exchanged horrified glances. To them, being separated was the worst punishment. Taehyung opened his mouth to complain, but Seokjin powered on, raising a hand to silence his brother.

"From now on, Jimin will be paired with Hoseok for any missions, and Taehyung with Jungkook." Taehyung's quiet grumbling suddenly fell silent at that, the tips of his ears glowing red. Jimin sighed but grinned at his best friend's sudden discomfort.

"Alright," he said, despite his disappointment that he was to stay apart from his Parabatai. 

"Good," Seokjin let out a huge annoyed breath, removing the foghorn from underneath his seat. "And no more pranks, you hear?" The two boys nodded obediently, looking slightly ashamed.

 

The next week was finally quiet, with no screams, shrieks, shouts or sound of running feet disturbing the peace of the Institute. Hoseok's parents came to visit him from their family mansion in Alicante, where they had retired to after the war, and he and Wheein suddenly found themselves busy beyond belief, taking them out for food and shopping, accompanying them everywhere and taking them wherever they wanted to go. They were eager for some time with their son and his girlfriend after so much time spent apart, so during their visit Hoseok and Wheein were often absent from the Institute, off on a family trip to the countryside and so on.

Meanwhile, there had been several reports of unusual demon activities in the vicinity and Seokjin and Solar were getting worried. The younger Shadowhunters noticed the uneasy atmosphere the Institute was giving off and each reacted accordingly. Wheein was too busy caring for Hoseok's parents that she didn't really notice the gloomy mood. Hwasa, her parabatai, was slightly crabbier than normal while Jimin was the total opposite, always with a smile on his face, trying to make the tense atmosphere a little lighter. Taehyung was quieter than normal, reading each person's mood and either cheering them up or silently supporting them with a small smile and an encouraging word. He was surprisingly good at reading people - fast to catch on when anyone was feeling bad or irritated and always knowing just how exactly to make them feel better. Jungkook wasn't any good at that, preferring to hide away whenever things got too overwhelming or when he didn't know what to do to ease the tension.

One day, they got a call about a Kappa demon living in the Han river that seemed to be responsible for the recent disappearances and drownings appearing on the mundane news. Moonbyul, Solar, Yoongi, Jimin and Hwasa were already out on a mission vanquishing a Vetis demon that had escaped from captivity a few years ago and had not been sighted since - at least, not until recently, when they'd received news about a so-called dragon living on the roof of Deoksugung, one of Korea's many traditional palaces. This left only Taehyung and Jungkook to handle the mission. Seokjin was reluctant to send the two of them on their own but they managed to convince him that a single Kappa was hardly a threat to two Shadowhunters, no matter how young and relatively untrained they were. They would be just fine on their own.

"Alright," he'd sighed after almost half an hour of wheedling and convincing. Jungkook and Taehyung exchanged triumphant looks. "But only because it would really be too much work to call back one of the others, and I'm really busy with work today. If anything goes wrong-" he threatened, and Taehyung quickly waved his fears away.

"Don't worry, hyung," he smiled breezily. "Kookie here could probably handle it on his own! You have nothing to worry about."

Jungkook shuffled on his feet, embarrassed, feeling the back of his neck start to burn.

"Okay," Seokjin finally allowed. "Go on then, and heaven help us if you two get into trouble again." He shooed the boys out of his office, massaging his aching head. Namjoon looked up from the book he was reading on the couch behind him, concerned. Unbeknownst to Seokjin, he snapped his fingers and a flurry of purple sparks flew to Seokjin's temples, sinking into the hot skin there and instantly soothing the dull ache. Surprised, Seokjin removed his massaging fingers and stared at them in confusion, unsure of how he'd managed to dispel the headache so easily. Behind him, Namjoon smiled into his book.

 

The two Shadowhunters, now marked up, armed and ready for battle, exited the Institute with a skip in their steps. They were glad of the chance to escape the stuffy air of the building and stretch their muscles for a while on an actual mission instead of just in the training hall. Since they were unable to drive the Institute's van, they were left to take the subway instead. It was sometime past 4 in the afternoon and their compartment was practically empty, the only other passengers some bored looking middle aged women and a couple of exhausted college students almost nodding off with thick notebooks in their laps. They sat in companionable silence, Taehyung resting his head on Jungkook's shoulder as he drifted off to the soft background music coming from the speakers. Jungkook sat unnaturally still, afraid to jostle Taehyung and wake him up.

They'd successfully gone back to acting as if everything was normal and nothing had happened after the incident, but Jungkook still hadn't been able to overcome his fears completely. He was relieved Taehyung understood his hesitation and to be honest, the mere fact that Taehyung had agreed to wait and that he was acting so _okay_ with how _broken_ Jungkook had revealed himself to be, was a huge help in convincing him that Taehyung would never intentionally hurt him. He'd been half afraid that Taehyung would be disgusted with him, that he would be unwilling to commit himself to someone who was so high maintenance, who always needed convincing that he didn't need to live in fear. The older boy was becoming dearer to him by the day, and he was almost ready to tell him so, to take him out on that date he'd promised him, but something deep inside him kept him from speaking out, kept making him hesitate and tell himself that he should wait just a little more, until he was absolutely _sure_ that it was a decision he wouldn't regret. A heavy sense of guilt also weighed him down, knowing he was making the other wait so long and that he shouldn't be such a coward, but he really couldn't help it.

The speakers blared out a cheerful song, announcing the next stop. "Hyung," he murmured, shaking the sleeping boy gently. "Hyung, wake up, it's our stop." Taehyung jolted awake with a little grunt, looking around blearily before he realized where they were and relaxed.

"Thanks for letting me sleep, Kook-ah," he yawned, stretching like a cat. The station was situated a few minutes away from the river itself, and the two boys set out briskly, warming themselves up for the fight.

 

Half a city away, at a subway station situated in the heart of Seoul, in Gwanghwamun, five other Shadowhunters had similarly warmed themselves up for their own fight, several hours before Taehyung and Jungkook's mission. Vetis demons were like dragons, hoarding sparkling things, regardless of whether they were valuable or not. Shiny, sparkly trinkets attracted them, and they were greedy - just like the dragons in myths. However, they weren't lizards, despite their ruby-red eyes and mouth full of pointy, deadly teeth. They were humanoid, with long serpentine arms that ended in eel-like heads and scales all over their body. They were dangerous and large, but most importantly, they guarded their treasure hoard jealously, with love and care bordering on obsession. 

First off, the group scouted the area surrounding the palace carefully. To their dismay, there was an elementary school situated right next to the palace grounds, small children shrieking and laughing in the playground as they played their little games. A pretty path followed the outer wall of the palace grounds, dappled with autumn leaves, winding past the school.

"This place is so pretty," Solar sighed. "I really hope we won't end up destroying it or something during our fight."

Jimin shook his head. "I'm more worried about the children," he voiced, chewing on his lower lip in worry. "What if they get hurt?"

"It won't come to that, I hope," Yoongi said grimly. "We'll have to keep it from actually leaving the palace grounds. We have enough work trying to keep the tourists safe, I don't want to have to protect an entire school as well."

The others echoed his sentiment, eyeing the school worriedly. Returning to the main street, they entered the palace grounds through the Daehanmun - the palace's main entrance. There were very few people about at this time, which was exactly what they had hoped for. Slowly, they made their way through the grounds, on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. They knew the Vetis demon had made its nest on the roof of a building, but they didn't know which one. Therefore, they prowled through the beautiful traditional palace, searching the roofs of each and every building.

"There!" Hwasa gasped, pointing up at the only two-story traditional style building in the palace - the Seokeodang. Sure enough, there it was - an ugly, gray, scaly and tall humanoid monster, long serpentine arms wrapped protectively around its hoard. The stench of rotting garbage floated down to them, making them wrinkle their noses in disgust. It hadn't spotted them yet and they used that to their advantage, spreading round the building and getting into position. Yoongi and Moonbyul were the ones to enter the Seokeodang, climbing the sturdy wooden beams of the second floor and maneuvering themselves out of the delicate paper windows. The others scaled the walls of the building, closing in on the demon.

Sensing their presence, the Vetis demon spun round before the crew could launch a surprise attack. Roaring, it swatted its long arms at them, keeping them from inching closer to its precious treasure hoard.

"Ugh," Solar commented to Moonbyul as an aside, eyeing the monster with disgust. "That thing could definitely use a dentist's appointment." The Vetis demon did indeed have a horrible mouth full of pointed teeth sticking in every direction, and Moonbyul couldn't help but snort with laughter at Solar's remark. 

"Concentrate," Yoongi hissed at them, crouched on the edge of the curved tiles of the roof, both swords out and held ready in his hands. Jimin stood nearby, similarly armed with his twin knives, watching the demon's every movement carefully. Suddenly, the demon lurched forward, hissing with its horrible fangs, red eyes flashing with hostility.

"Watch out, Hwasa!" Jimin yelped as he dodged the Vetis demon's attack, stepping forward to prevent the thing from getting closer to Hwasa, who was having trouble with her weapon for some reason.

Out of nowhere, a serpentine arm whipped through the air, aiming for Jimin's neck, but the young Shadowhunter immediately flipped backwards in a perfect back flip, rolling out of harm's way and coming back up with both arms held ready, launching a flurry of blows on the Vetis demon. 

"That's my boy," Yoongi thought smugly before joining in the attack. The demon was fast, faster than they'd anticipated, and Moonbyul was hit with a nasty blow from one of its flailing arms, but otherwise the fight was going fine. At least, until the demon screeched defiantly and leapt off the roof, hoping to draw them away from its precious haul.

"Fuck," Yoongi cursed, jumping down to chase after the fleeing demon, followed closely by the others. They were frantic, hoping to catch the monster before it reached the school. To their dismay, however, it was wickedly fast, speeding away from them before they could make a move. It raced down the well kept lawn, hopping up onto the outer wall and running away along the top of the brick wall. Jimin, as the one with the best balance out of the five, sped after it following its exact path, while the others sprinted down the path trying to cut it off.

"Oh, no," Jimin gasped as he leapt gracefully off the wall and spotted the demon entering the school grounds. "The children!"

At the thought of the innocent little souls getting hurt, he felt a surge of energy thrum through his body. Yelling loudly, he ran into the school grounds and gave chase to the demon, children scattering left and right before what they saw as a boy chasing a fleeing dog.

"Fuck this," Yoongi cursed again as the rest of the Shadowhunters reached the school. "The thing's too fast. We won't ever catch it at this rate. We need a distraction."

Just then, a child screamed, the raw sound of fear ripping through the air. Freezing in place, Yoongi turned around just in time to see the horrible sight.

\--------------------------------------------

 

The Googly Eyes Fridge Prank.

 

Princess Seokjin in a qipao <3

Deoksugung from above.

The path following the outer wall of the palace grounds.

 

The front of the school swimming pool, with the school building itself in the back (the grey building right next to the brown brick one).

The road in front is the same one as the one next to the path following the wall.

This is the school I used to go to when I was small... Ah, memories...

The Daehanmun, which is the main entrance to the palace grounds.

The Seokeodang. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cracked up when I found the image of the googly eyes in the fridge XD I would freak out if I ever opened my fridge to see tons of eyes staring back at me lol....  
> Fun fact: I used to attend the primary school next to Deoksugung myself lol so that description's totally based on personal experience.
> 
> Also, I know the demon attacks might seem really random, and some of you might be wondering just why such demons are suddenly popping up out of nowhere. Sadly, I started this fic with a relatively simple plot in mind, concentrating on the relationships between the Shadowhunters and their friends instead of actually plotting a PLOT as in 'bad guy, evil plan to take over the world and how to defeat him'. So... As much as I wish I had the brains and the skill to write things like that, I know I won't be able to pull it off and so the demon's presence is... unexplained. lol. Also, this fic is slowly drawing to an end - there will probably only be 3~4 more chapters left, plus maybe an epilogue and some short one-shots that I will post as part of the series (but not this fic itself). Thanks guys for sticking with me and giving me so much support! Hope I won't disappoint you till the end ^^


	14. How could I miss, something as simple as this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since I last updated!! I'm so sorry guys! I've just been so busy this month...  
> Sorry :'(  
> Also, Jungkook's 2U cover killed me @.@  
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our little baby Maknae<3 (can't believe we're the same age....)

Jimin sped through the playground. His heart was working overtime, beating in time with his pounding feet. The children made way for him, the glamour over him and the Vetis demon keeping them from seeing anything alarming. Judging from their surprised laughs and shouts, all they saw was a naughty dog running away from its owner. Jimin was grateful for that. He really didn't want to have to deal with hysterical, panicking children forming a mass stampede away from the hideous demon on top of his mission.

The demon sped away, heading for the far side of the playground, and Jimin gave chase, hoping to catch up to it before it could run away. The far side was ringed by stone steps leading up to a mossy wall, which Jimin _really_ didn't want to see it disappear over.

Just then, a child caught his eye - it was a little girl, around 9 or 10, with adorable little curly bunches of hair tied up in pigtails, wearing a cute striped shirt under denim dungarees. Unlike the other children, she wasn't laughing or playing with her friends. It was the look of shock and fear in her eyes that caught him off guard, startling him and distracting him from his main purpose.

That was a mistake. Sensing Jimin's distraction and feeling that it had let him come too close for comfort, the Vetis demon suddenly changed tactics, wheeling around and charging straight at the distracted boy. The girl's scream alerted him just in time; he spun away from the attack, the demon's deadly jaws closing over where his arm had been just seconds ago.

However, his movement had sent him straight into the path of the demon's serpentine arms that immediately wound tightly around him. He gasped for breath, clutching in vain at the slippery, scaly arms that were slowly choking him and crushing his ribs. Stars exploded behind his eyes as the air whooshed out of his lungs.

"Jimin!" he heard someone shout. His head spun from the lack of oxygen - he couldn't tell exactly who it was.

He saw only bits and flashes of the situation: the girl standing stock still, frozen to the spot in terror; Moonbyul racing towards him; a bright flash of metal as she threw her chakram. One of Solar's Japanese throwing knives embedded in the demon's scaly gray leg; Hwasa grabbing the girl and pulling her to safety.

He gasped for breath, feeling his consciousness slipping away. Suddenly, the demon jerked back, growling loudly. The arms around him loosened and he fell to the ground, spluttering for breath as the world spun around him. He threw his head back drawing in a huge gulping breath and saw his boyfriend clinging to the demon's back, grimly holding on despite the monster's efforts to dislodge him. Clinging on with his legs wrapped tightly around the demon's torso, he repeatedly stabbed at the tough scaly hide protecting the demon's neck.

"Yoongi!" Solar yelled, and the mint-haired boy glanced up, meeting her eyes and nodding slightly before grabbing the demon's jaw and holding it still. He gritted his teeth as the demon thrashed about, barely able to hold on while keeping the head steady.

As soon as Yoongi had positioned the head, Yongsun drew her hand back and threw another of her knives with deadly accuracy. The demon howled in pain as the knife pierced its eye, sinking in to the hilt. It bucked in agony and Yoongi was thrown off, landing on all fours with a grunt. Before he could move, the demon fell on him, snapping blindly at him as he struggled to keep its jaws away from his throat.

Hwasa was still protecting the little girl from the worst of the battle but Moonbyul and Solar did their best to pull the thing off Yoongi. Solar's crystal knife sliced straight through its right arm making it howl loudly but its jaws still snapped at Yoongi, the mismatched sharp teeth narrowly missing his pale throat.

Jimin struggled up from where he had fallen. Clenching his jaw in determination, he sprang at the grappling pair. Uttering a loud yell, he yanked the lizard-like demon's head back savagely and passed his knife in front of its bared throat. He straddled its shoulders to gain leverage as he grabbed the blade of the knife with his other hand, ignoring Yoongi's shout of shock. With a grunt, he threw his body back. His full weight was now resting on the edge of the sharp blade cutting into the demon's neck. One hand on the handle and the other slick with blood as the steel dug into his palm, the weight of his body did what Yoongi's stabs and his strikes had been unable to do - the blade passed straight through the tough scaly hide and severed the demon's head from its shoulders.

Jimin rolled away from the spasming body as sticky greenish black ichor spewed from the severed neck. Twitching and shuddering, the corpse of the huge demon folded in on itself until there was nothing left but a small patch of steaming ichor gleaming on the ground. Panting, Yoongi sat up gingerly, the scars on his arms bleeding from where he'd held the creature away from his neck.

"Hyung!" Jimin gasped, falling to his knees beside Yoongi. "Are you alright?"  His hands fluttered anxiously over the wounds, not daring to touch them. Yoongi ignored his question, instead grabbing his boyfriend by the neck and pulling him in to crush his lips against the other's. Jimin's eyes widened slightly in shock but he didn't protest, relaxing in Yoongi's arms and winding his own arms lightly around his neck. Yongsun and Moonbyul exchanged amused looks before discreetly turning away and heading over to where Hwasa was comforting the teary eyed little girl.

"What was that for?" Jimin asked, chuckling slightly as they pulled apart. Yoongi just sighed and buried his head in Jimin's neck.

"You scared me," he muttered into his shoulder, hands falling to Jimin's waist in a feather-light grip.

" _I_ scared _you_? Hyung, you're the one that was almost bitten in half!" Jimin laughed incredulously.

"You were suffocating," Yoongi protested. "And that stunt with the knife! Just what were you thinking?" he complained, grabbing Jimin's wounded hand and staring in dismay at the deep cut there. Tutting, he grabbed his stele to carefully trace an iratze on the smaller boy's palm. Both Shadowhunters watched in satisfaction as the rune glowed burning red, the wound visibly receding and sizzling slightly as the ragged edges of the cut fluttered closed and brand new skin stretched itself over the raw pink scar.

Jimin took the stele from Yoongi and traced another iratze on his pale shoulder, planting a kiss on the completed rune as the scars on his arms slowly faded.

"Get a room!" a kid hooted, his friends all bursting into laughter as they surrounded the couple, reminding them that they were, in fact, in the middle of an elementary school playground. "Green hair and brown hair sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G--"

"Little brats," Yoongi sighed, standing and holding out a hand to help Jimin up. Blushing slightly in embarrassment, Jimin accepted his helping hand, brushing himself off self-consciously.

"Come on," Solar called from where she was standing with the others, Hwasa holding the little girl by the hand. "Let's head somewhere more private."

"With the kid?" Yoongi asked, raising an eyebrow as they joined the group. The girl shrank a little into Hwasa's side, intimidated by the minty haired boy's cold demeanor.

"Yes," Moonbyul sighed. "Turns out the kid has the Sight. We'll need to look more into things, so the kid comes with."

"Her _name_ ," Hwasa cut in, "is Seyeon." She frowned at her friend. " _Seyeon_ has the Sight. She says she's always been able to see weird monsters and that her parents told her it was normal."

" _Normal?_ " Jimin asked incredulously. "What, does the whole family have the Sight?"

"It would seem so," Yongsun sighed. "I don't even know. Maybe they're one of those old Shadowhunter families that gave up Shadowhunting ages ago, like the Lovelaces. In any case, we'll need to talk to the Clave."

"But what about the school?" Jimin asked. "We can't just take her without saying anything, that's practically kidnapping!" Seyeon giggled at that, peeking out from where she stood behind Hwasa's legs.

"Oh, right," Yongsun realized; since none of them had gone to mundane schools as children, she'd forgotten that schools needed compulsory attending and that you couldn't just take a kid out of school whenever you wanted to. She knelt to meet the girl's eyes. "Alright then, Seyeon - you'll stay here, at school, okay? We'll be back in a day or so to talk about what happened today." Seyeon nodded. "Will you be alright on your own?" Solar continued, slightly worried that the girl might have been traumatized by the experience. However, Seyeon nodded again, and there was a surprising hint of steel in her gaze that reassured her more than anything else could. "Good girl," Yongsun smiled, patting her on the head before straightening back up.

"All right guys, time to head back home," she declared, stretching her arms over her head. "Goodbye, Seyeon," she added, and the child nodded before running back to her friends, waving goodbye as she went. 

\-------------------------

"What is a Kappa, anyway?" Jungkook asked as the pair made their way to the river. It was a nice day and there were a lot of people around. The light breeze that ruffled their hair cooled the warm air. It was a perfect autumn afternoon.

The place they were heading to was a large square right on the banks of the river, a stone pool, knee deep with tiny jets of water spouting up from little round holes in the ground. Children ran around among the mini fountains, laughing and shrieking as they were soaked by the random sprays of cold water.

"You ever heard of those old Japanese myths about water imps?" Taehyung asked, swinging his arms comfortably as he strode along.

"No," Jungkook frowned. "Water imps, huh?"

"Yeah, they're a type of Yokai," Taehyung explained. "The Japanese actually weren't too far off. They got most of the details right - they _are_ water demons. Mischievous little devils," he snorted. "Kappas like to lure people into the body of water they live in, grabbing them once they get close enough and drowning them. They're pretty strong in water, so we'll be needing to take care to stay dry." Jungkook nodded. "They like human children best, but rumor says they love cucumbers even more. We're not entirely sure about that, but just in case -" Taehyung lifted the shopping bag he'd brought along into the air, shaking it slightly. "Cucumbers," he announced proudly.

"What does it look like?" Jungkook asked curiously.

"Scaly. Mostly green, sometimes yellow or blue. Protective carapace, smells like fish. Beak. Webbed hands and feet. Roughly the size and shape of a human child," Taehyung listed, counting the elements on his fingers. "That's about it, really." He shrugged.

"Woah," Jungkook laughed, impressed. "How did you manage to remember all that? I thought you never paid attention in class."

Taehyung shoved him lightly, pouting. "I do! It's just that there're so many other interesting things to concentrate on that I forget to listen sometimes. I still listen to what Hobi hyung and Moonbyul noona say, though."

He broke off, clutching at Jungkook's arm excitedly and pointing before him. "Kookie! Look! There it is!"

Indeed, there in front of them was the plaza and behind it, the river. The two immediately headed to the water bank, stopping on the steps leading down into the water. Jungkook peered down into the slightly murky water, not seeing anything except some reeds and pebbles on the floor of the river.

"Where?" he asked, confused. Taehyung tutted and grabbed his arm, guiding it until he was pointing at a dark patch of water just under the surface of the river. As if it had sensed them looking at it, the patch rippled and disappeared, the Kappa diving deeper and moving away.

"Alright," said Jungkook. "How do we get it to come close enough to kill, though?"

Taehyung grinned and Jungkook's face fell. "Oh, no," he groaned, already feeling a headache coming on. That glint in Taehyung's eyes promised nothing pleasant was in store for him.

 

"This is so stupid," Jungkook groaned. He was sitting on the lowest stone step of the plaza, his feet dangling in the water of the Han river. He held the cucumber in his hand.

"You're doing great, Kookie," Taehyung called from where he was standing on a crop of stone a little farther away, waiting with his bow held ready. He giggled at Jungkook's frustrated glare.

Jungkook sighed and turned away, halfheartedly biting into the cucumber. He winced slightly at the raw taste.

"Oh, what a delicious cucumber," he droned loudly, rolling his eyes. "Mmmm."

Far underneath the surface, the Kappa's ears perked up, its nostrils flaring. Its round, bugging eyes slowly rolled up to scrutinize the waters above. _There_. It could see a pair of legs dangling in the water, kicking light-heartedly. That was where the smell of cucumber was coming from.

Grinning to itself, it kicked its webbed feet, slowly rising until it was right underneath the boy with the cucumber. _Little boy and cucumber - two of its favorite things_ , it thought to itself as it stretched out its webbed hands.

 

Up on the surface, Jungkook sighed as he took another reluctant bite of his cucumber.

"Hey, Tae?" he called, twisting around to look behind him. "I don't think this is worki-"

Taehyung's loud cry cut him off as the older boy spotted a dark shape surge up from the depths of the river.

Before either of them could react, before Taehyung could shoot, slimy webbed fingers wrapped tightly around Jungkook's bare ankles and yanked hard, pulling him down into the murky water. Jungkook let out a surprised cry that turned into a gurgle as his head disappeared below the surface of the water. Taehyung cursed loudly, scrambling down from his place to get a better aim on the Kappa.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he saw the two figures thrashing around just below the surface. The way the two were intertwined made it impossible for him to shoot - he was too afraid of hitting Jungkook by mistake.

Throwing away his bow, he grabbed a dagger and ran towards the water, tossing aside his shoes as he went.

Meanwhile, the Kappa was finding the boy to be a harder catch than usual. The boy, unlike his expectations, was a fighter. He wouldn't give up, battling the Kappa tooth and claw, resisting him every inch of the way.

The Kappa hissed as the boy suddenly let go of its arms, where he had been clawing just a few seconds ago. A sudden sting in its torso made the demon look down, confused, at the glint of silver reflecting off the blade of the knife embedded in its chest. _That's strange_ , it thought hazily, _I could have sworn that wasn't there a second ago_.

That was the last thought it would ever have, as the runes traced on the handle of the knife glowed red. With a loud howl that echoed through the water, the demon writhed in agony, clawing in vain at the blade. As the water around the Kappa started roiling, the demon starting to spasm as it folded it on itself, Jungkook shot up like a bullet, gasping in a huge breath as soon as his head broke the surface.

"Jungkook!" Taehyung, who had been just about to dive in to his rescue, saw him and waded out, clutching at the shivering boy and helping him out of the river.

"The Kappa?" he asked anxiously as soon as he was sure Jungkook was unharmed. The boy gave a weak grin in response.

"Dead," he said proudly. "I lost the cucumber, though." He looked sadly at his empty hands. Taehyung let out a relieved bark of laughter, collapsing in a long-limbed heap beside the younger.

"Guess when I told Jin hyung you could probably handle it on your own, I wasn't wrong," Taehyung giggled. Jungkook joined in, still slightly out of breath.

"Ah, what a shame, though," Taehyung suddenly exclaimed, leaning back to lie on his back.

"What is?" asked Jungkook, bemused.

"I could have saved you," Taehyung grinned, turning his head slightly to look up at him. "Then, I would have been your Prince Charming."

Jungkook snorted. "What am I, a disney princess?" he snickered. "And I'm a Shadowhunter, Tae. I don't need saving." He winked cheekily down at the older boy. "Still, I wouldn't mind if it was you doing the saving," he grinned.

Taehyung squealed and slapped his back, laughing so hard he was having trouble breathing. "OMG, Kookie! Wha- what was that incredibly cheesy line," he gasped out in between squeaks of laughter.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow, completely straight faced. "What?" he asked innocently. "I just told the truth. When God made you, he must have been showing off." Taehyung squealed even louder, writhing in second-hand embarassment.

"Stop!!" he begged, but Jungkook was relentless.

"Was your dad an alien? Because I've never seen anyone as good-looking as you on earth." Even Jungkook was grinning now, while Taehyung's face was bright red, both from laughing too hard and from embarassment. "Where do you hide your wings?" he continued, thoroughly enjoying Taehyung's mortified squirming. "Oh! Was that an earthquake? Or did you just rock my world?" He sang the last three words, striking an extravagant pose before collapsing in laughter beside his hyung. They lay there for ages, just laughing, as the sun set before them. Whenever one managed to stop laughing for long enough, the other would inevitably end up making them fall back into helpless giggles.

"Joking aside, though," said Jungkook, sitting up finally, long after they were both exhausted from laughing too much. "You really are beautiful, hyung." Taehyung's breath caught at the fond look in the other's eyes and he felt the heat creep up his neck, flushing his face.

"Thanks," he murmured, smiling softly at Jungkook, who smiled back. They stayed like that in peaceful silence until Taehyung's phone rang - it was Seokjin, who'd been worrying that something had gone wrong since the two were taking longer than expected.

"Don't worry hyung!" Taehyung chirped as they hurriedly got ready to go home. "We handled it, no problem."

"Actually, _I_ handled it," put in Jungkook, leaning in to talk into the phone.

"Really?" Seokjin's proud voice floated out of the phone's speakers. "Good job, Kookie! I'm so proud of you!"

Taehyung pouted. "Hey!! What about me?"

"What about you?"

"I'm your brother! You never say stuff like that to me!"

Seokjin laughed his squeaky laugh. "Of course," he chuckled. "You're my brother, why would I say nice stuff to you?" he teased, making Taehyung pout and whine.

"Anyways, come home safely," he said finally. "It's late."

"Yes, _mom_ ," both boys chorused, rolling their eyes.

"Yah!" Seokjin yelled, but Taehyung had already hung up. "Aish, those brats," he grumbled to Namjoon as he put away his phone. Namjoon just smiled indulgently, wrapping his arms around Seokjin in a back hug to comfort him. "Still, ever since I became Head of Institute, I've been feeling more and more like they really are my kids," he mused, slightly disgruntled. "Ugh. I'm too young and handsome to be a parent to all those little troublemakers," he scowled, but Namjoon could tell he was just joking. He knew Seokjin loved the others to bits and wanted to take care of them as best he could, as the oldest among them all. He smiled again, resting his chin on Jin's shoulder. "Our kids, then," he laughed softly. Seokjin blushed at that, but felt his heart warm at the thought that he wasn't alone in anything he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of angst coming up next chapter! Don't worry, though, it won't last long!


	15. Just Let Me Love You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!: homophobia and discriminating remarks, insults, offensive terms!!!! (I'm sorry if I offend some of you...)  
> Also, I'm sorry to Jungkook and his parents for portraying them in this way. Please know that they in no way resemble these characters in real life, and that Jungkook's parents and brother are actually extremely sweet, supportive people who have raised our Kookie to be so kind and amazingly talented.

It was dark by the time Jungkook and Taehyung started heading back to the Institute. Sparks of light were flickering on all over the city; streetlamps and neon signs, the harsh glow of car headlamps and the soft lamplight shining from between the curtains of living rooms.

Jungkook and Taehyung walked in silence among the lights, enjoying the night view. There weren't that many pedestrians around them. Most people were in their cars zooming past or already in bars, drinking the night away. The rush hour had passed - the streets were calm and quiet. Jungkook whistled a small tune as they walked. A soft look in his eyes, he drank in the cool night air and the twinkling night view. Taehyung glanced at him quickly. They were walking side by side, close enough for their hands to risk bumping into each other, and his hands were itching to grab the younger's. A fierce internal debate ensued. _Should he just hold his hand or not? Should he ask? Should he just leave it be?_ A million thoughts flew through the frowning boy's head.

Jungkook grinned to himself, guessing what was going on in Taehyung's mind.

"You should stop twitching your fingers so, hyung," he chuckled. Taehyung startled and blushed, curling his fingers into fists. Jungkook laughed and reached for his hand, smoothing out the curled fingers and sliding his own through them. "I could hear your thoughts all the way from here," he teased, swinging their linked hands lightly. Taehyung let out an embarrassed cough. Despite his chagrin, a happy smile still broke out on his face as he gripped Jungkook's hand tighter and he started humming happily.

They were almost at the Institute when they heard a surprised voice.

"Jungkook?"

Both boys spun around simultaneously, looking for the speaker. Jungkook had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he tried to ignore. The voice was horribly familiar to him and he hoped with all his heart that it wasn't who he thought it wa-

"It _is_ you!" A middle aged man in an expensive business suit stood on the sidewalk, a black Mercedes Benz idling in front of him with another man in black holding the back door open.

"Dad," Jungkook faltered, shrinking into himself. Taehyung frowned, confused at the way the other was behaving.

"Hello, Mr. Jeon!" he decided to introduce himself, stepping forward with a hand stretched out. Jungkook stretched out a hand to stop him but Taehyung didn't see it, smiling broadly at the austere businessman. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kookie's friend-"

"What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Jeon snapped at Jungkook, completely ignoring Taehyung. The older boy frowned again, slowly pulling his hand back as he glanced between the father and son. "I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again. What are you doing here, in Gangnam? And holding hands with another boy, at that?"

Jungkook seemed to grow smaller with every word his father threw at him, looking down at the ground and wringing his hands like a scolded little boy. "I'm sorry, father," he muttered in a broken voice, a sob threatening to break through.

"Disgusting," the man spat, glancing disdainfully at Taehyung. "No wonder you're such a disgrace to the family name. Bah!" He spat at Jungkook's feet. "Seeing things and making up stories about monsters, lying, acting out, felony! And now, you turn out to be a f*cking faggot, too?" Taehyung's head snapped up at that, staring at him in shock. "It disgusts me to think that you're my son."

Jungkook was crying now, silent tears dripping off his nose onto the cold asphalt. Taehyung was frozen in place - he couldn't believe his ears.

"Don't you think you'll get anything from coming back home, boy," Mr. Jeon continued. "I don't care if you grovel or beg - we're not taking you back in. And don't expect any help or money, either. As I said, you're no son of mine any longer." And with those final icy cold words, he turned to get into his car.

"Wait!" Taehyung yelled. Surprised, Mr. Jeon turned back around.

"Don't, Tae," Jungkook protested weakly but Taehyung wasn't listening.

"Are you talking to me, boy?" Mr. Jeon asked him, raising an eyebrow as if astounded that someone like _him_ had dared to address him, to yell at him even.

"Yes," Taehyung growled. He was beyond furious. He couldn't believe all the insulting words Jungkook had had to listen to, and the fact that this man believed Jungkook was worthless and disgusting made his blood boil. "What exactly do you think gives you the right to say such horrible things to him?"

"I'm his father, if you hadn't caught on," the businessman replied haughtily, staring down the tip of his nose at the angry boy.

"So?" Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

"So?" Mr. Jeon spluttered, turning red. "So I'm his father, you brat! That gives me the right to say whatever I like to him!"

"No, it doesn't," Taehyung countered immediately. "Being his father has nothing to do with what you just said to him! Do you think that you can just say whatever you want, and that he wouldn't be hurt by it? If you're really his father, shouldn't you be more concerned with his feelings? How can you possibly just throw him out into the street like that?"

 "I don't think you understand, boy," the man sneered. "A son like that is useless to me. Always stirring up trouble, shaming me. It's much better for me and for the family business if I don't have a son like that."

"So you threw him away?" Taehyung exclaimed, outraged.

"Yes!" Mr. Jeon shouted, becoming angrier by the minute. "I _threw him away_. He's of no use to me. And I really don't think you have anything to do with what I do with my family, thank you very much." With those words, he spun on his feet, heading back to his car.

Taehyung stared after him, speechless. He could think of nothing that would break through the man's defenses - it was like talking to a wall. A cold, heartless, business-minded wall.

He turned to comfort Jungkook and to apologize for making things worse, then stared around him in dismay. The other boy was nowhere to be found.

In truth, Jungkook had run away during the middle of his father's last words, unable to handle any more.

"Shit," Taehyung groaned, running an agitated hand through his hair. He glanced around quickly, trying to guess where Jungkook might have gone.

"I need help," he muttered to himself. Running to the Institute, which was only a few streets away, he burst through the doors, effectively startling Jimin and Yoongi.

"Have you seen Jungkook?" he demanded immediately and Jimin shook his head in alarm.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, hurrying to calm his Parabatai.

"Jungkook's gone," Taehyung told them, biting his lips. "We ran into his dad outside, and he... things were pretty bad." Yoongi's eyes glinted sharply at the mention of Jungkook's father. "I think I might have made things worse," Taehyung fretted. "I was trying to defend him, but his dad... he said some really mean things, and when I looked around after he left, Jungkook was gone."

Jimin and Yoongi exchanged concerned looks.

"I thought maybe he'd come here," Taehyung said hopelessly.

"We haven't seen him," Jimin confirmed, wracking his head to think where the boy might have gone. "We'll help you look for him."

"Ah," Yoongi said suddenly, "I think I might know where he's gone."

Both boys turned to look at him in surprise. "You do?" Jimin asked, taken aback.

"Yeah," Yoongi said, hurrying outside. The Parabatai pair trailed after him as he ran through the empty streets. He stopped at the door of a small bar and the others stared at him with wide eyes.

"A _bar_?" Taehyung asked incredulously. "You think Jungkook came _here_? To what, to get drunk?" Yoongi sighed in exasperation.

"No, you dumbass," he tutted. "Jungkook told me once that he used to perform here, back when he was homeless. The owner liked his voice and let him sing sometimes. He even gave him free food in exchange. He didn't get paid but he was allowed to keep whatever tips he got, so it helped him out a lot when he was starving."

Jimin looked thoughtfully at the bustling bar. The windows were clouded but they could see the silhouettes of the people drinking and dancing inside. A couple pushed the door open, stumbling outside and laughing at nothing in particular as they made their way down the street. A blast of music hit the trio, quickly re-becoming muffled as the door swung closed, but it was enough for Taehyung to tug it back open and hurry inside. Someone was singing inside, the voice clear and ringing with emotion.

 _"Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy. Woe is me, if we're not careful turns into reality."_ The sound was raw and the band mediocre at best, but anyone could tell even from those few seconds that the singer with the beautiful voice was incredibly talented.

Jimin and Yoongi quickly followed Taehyung inside. The bar was crowded, the crowd swaying slightly from side to side to the soulful voice of the singer. Couples were slow dancing and others were simply standing with their drinks, moving their bodies to the song. The darkened room and the soft lamps on the walls gave the whole place a very rustic, comfortable feel, and the voice floating through the place accentuated that mood.

Taehyung's eyes immediately zeroed in on the wooden stage at the far end of the bar, where a small band was playing Lost Stars. Jungkook was standing in the middle of the stage, singing his heart out into a microphone.

 _"Turn the page, maybe we'll find a brand new ending, where we're dancing in our tears and-"_ Jungkook sang. The lights lit him up in a soft glow. Taehyung could see a lone tear glinting on his cheek. _"God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young. It's hunting season, and the lambs are on the run searching for meaning."_ Jungkook continued to sing. Taehyung kept his eyes fixed on the boy as he weaved through the swaying crowd. _"But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?"_ He reached the stage as Jungkook reached the end of the line, his voice breaking on the last word. He hung his head, tears falling onto the wooden paneling, and Taehyung vaulted onto the stage without hesitation. 

 _"And I thought I saw you out there crying,"_ he sang, grabbing the abandoned microphone stand and singing directly to the crying boy in front of him. _"And I thought I heard you call my name."_ Jungkook's head shot up in shock, his teary eyes meeting Taehyung's intense gaze. He found he couldn't look away as Taehyung sang, lost in the strength and fire burning inside the dark eyes that seemed to speak directly to his soul. _"And I thought I heard you out there crying, oh, just the same, oh, yeah, ooh~"_

The crowd was cheering, loving the interactions between the two as well as the deep, soulful voice of the new singer, but the pair on stage heard nothing but a dull roar in the background, their focus entirely on each other. Taehyung held out the microphone with a small smile and Jungkook took a deep breath, joining him for the next part.

 _"God, give us the reason youth is wasted on the young,"_ they sang together, Taehyung adding ad-libs and harmonies to Jungkook's voice. _"It's hunting season and the lambs are on the run, searching for meaning. But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?"_

 _"And I thought I saw you out there crying,"_ Taehyung continued. _"Crying, yeah,"_ Jungkook sang, a small smile on his face despite the tears that kept falling down his face.

_"And I thought I heard you call my name. And I thought I heard you out there crying."_

_"And are we all lost stars,"_ Jungkook's voice was clearer than ever, despite all the crying he was doing. _"Lost stars,"_ Taehyung hummed. He reached out and cupped Jungkook's face carefully in his palm, gently wiping the tears off Jungkook's cheek with his thumb.

 _"Trying to light up the dark..."_ Jungkook's voice choked up.

 _"Are we all lost stars,"_ Taehyung repeated, taking over for him. _"Lost stars,"_ Jungkook echoed with a teary smile.

 _"Trying to light up the dark..."_ they finished together, and the crowd went crazy.

 

"Oh, my god," Jimin whimpered, crying into his boyfriend's chest, "that was so beautiful, hyung, oh my god."

Even Yoongi had tears in his eyes as he comforted Jimin. A proud smile spread on his face as he watched Taehyung lean in to whisper something in Jungkook's ear. Jungkook blushed and smiled shyly, the sadness in his posture slowly melting away.

"I think we can leave them alone, now," Yoongi told Jimin softly and the younger boy nodded, hastily wiping his tears away with his small hands. Yoongi smiled fondly, catching his plump fists and pressing kisses to each of them before kissing the rest of Jimin's tears away. Jimin beamed up at him, eyes turning into happy crescents at the normally gruff man's sweet gesture.

"Come on," Yoongi coughed awkwardly, looking away from Jimin and tugging on his hand, leading him back out of the bar.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys... I'm finally back...  
> I'm sorry I keep doing this, the last chapter took so long to write as well...
> 
> So the thing is, I've just started University and WOW things are tough here. I'm up to my forehead in work and I've just been really distracted.  
> I hope you liked the chapter, it's a bit short sorry.  
> Also, don't worry, Jungkook is going to finally stand up to his parents soon!
> 
> The Vkook singing moment was completely unexpected.  
> I was just writing, getting Taehyung to look for JK, when suddenly Yoonmin made an appearance out of nowhere and Yoongi led them to a bar, of all places! And as if that wasn't enough Jungkook started singing while crying and Tae had just had to go and turn it into a beautiful romantic moment that had me crying while writing, I was so completely soft for these cuties. And the Yoonmin moment, ugh, my hearteu...  
> So yeah, my characters always take me by surprise; even as I write them they change things up, somehow making the storyline way better than I could have ever made it. They're the ones you should thank for all these adorable fluffy moments, lol.
> 
> I'll try to come back soon with the next chapter, but it's probably going to take a long time, I'm warning you and apologizing in advance. Sorry :(
> 
> Anyways, have a nice day and I love you all <3


	16. The little girl

_Name: Seyeon_

_Age: 10_

_Note: Has the sight. As does somehow the rest of her family?_

_Maybe an old Shadowhunter family that gave it up a long time ago, like the Lovelaces._

 

Seokjin clicked his pen, frowning. He didn't really know what to do. He hadn't been there when the others had met the little girl, but from what he'd heard she was a pretty special case. _Well_ , he thought, sighing, there wasn't much choice. Although they were not supposed to tell mundanes about the Shadow World, it was different when the mundanes had the Sight. Back when rich people still had servants, Sighted mundanes would become servants or caretakers for the Institutes, but nowadays things were of course different.

He spun around on his chair and picked up his phone, texting his sister.

 _Can you call the kid and ask her and her parents to come over?_ he sent, and his phone buzzed with a reply not even a second later.

 _Sure_.

 

Seyeon's parents turned out to be, surprisingly, both members of the police force. They were extremely young, too - too young to possibly be Seyeon's real parents. They weren't, the couple explained over a cup of tea and biscuits in Seokjin's office, while Seyeon played with Taehyung and Jimin. The woman was 26 and the man 23 - he was still in University, a mere rookie while she was already a senior policewoman.

"My name is Amy Lee," the woman introduced herself. "I met Seyeon 4 years ago, way back when I was still a rookie." She was gorgeous, with a strong, powerful sort of beauty, long, lustrous caramel blond hair and an air of confidence around her that couldn't be faked. "Her mum abandoned her at an amusement park and she was brought to the police station I worked in, trembling and soaked with rain." Her eyes flashed with anger. "That woman was crazy - leaving her child all alone in the rain without an umbrella or even a proper coat!"

Her husband patted her hand comfortingly. He was smaller and slighter than Amy, with a small pale face, cat like eyes and soft blond hair. He looked like Yoongi, Seokjin thought to himself, amused by the similarities between the two. Even their height was similar, although Yoongi was definitely taller than this man. He'd introduced himself as Jihoon Lee, but had asked them to call him Woozi, instead. Amy, likewise, had asked them to call her Ailee.

"Anyway, I decided that she didn't deserve to go to the orphanage, and offered to take her in for a while, just until we located her parents," Amy explained. "When I found out she also could see the monsters, I went through with the adoption as soon as we were sure her mother was not coming back. Jihoon here and I got married pretty young, just so that Seyeon could have a proper, loving family."

"How did you two meet?" Seokjin asked curiously. He was surprised by how well the two fit each other, despite how they were complete opposites. She was fiery and fierce, impulsive and passionate, while Woozi was more calculating and quiet, preferring to observe before acting.

"Oh, we met way back in high school," Ailee laughed. "I'd always thought I was crazy, you know, seeing weird monsters and fairies everywhere. I didn't mind, I liked being crazy." She laughed again. "I was kind of wild back then," she admitted. "Woozi was the typical bookworm, quiet and goody goody. I never imagined he would be able to see them too, until one day when I was freaking out over this weird goblin thingy that kept following me around and he chased it away with a stick." She grinned. "I never left him alone after that."

Jihoon rolled his eyes, sitting slumped deep in the sofa while she sat on the very edge, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, cradling her mug. "She stuck to me like glue," he said dryly. Amy batted her eyelashes at him, mischief twinkling in her eyes, and he stuck out his tongue at her. But when they turned back to Seokjin, he remarked that Jihoon surreptitiously wound his fingers through hers. Seokjin smiled to himself.

"I was already in my fourth year, so we only had half a year together, but funnily enough we both wanted to join the police. Plus, I wasn't going to let the only person who saw the same world that I did slip through my fingers, so I kept bugging him until he couldn't live without me."

"She came over every single day," Jihoon sighed. "My mum loves her. I think she likes my wife more than she loves her own son, sometimes."

Ailee giggled. "His mom's a sweetie," she smiled. "My own family isn't really... a happy one, so I think of her as my own mom, most of the time."

Jihoon squeezed her hand, detecting the tiny waver in her voice, and she flashed him a grateful smile over her shoulder.

"So," Jihoon started, "what exactly are you guys? I didn't see anything other than a run down building when your sister brought us here, but Ailee and Seyeon kept squealing about how beautiful the place was, so I'm guessing there's some kind of veil over the place, blocking people from seeing what it's really like."

"That's right," Namjoon smiled, impressed. "It's called a glamour; it keeps mundanes - normal folk - from seeing the Institute's real appearance."

"The Institute?" Ailee asked, curious. "Solar, the woman that brought us here, called it that, as well. She said something about.. hunters? I think?"

"Yes, Shadowhunters," Seokjin cleared his throat, leaning forward slightly. "That's what we call people like me. We're demon hunters; protectors, if you will."

He was taking a risk here, telling them about the Shadow World. But he had a plan in mind, and for it to work these two had to learn more about them.

"Demons?" Jihoon asked, sounding alarmed. "There are demons?"

"Yes," Namjoon explained. "Demons are everywhere, unseen by mundanes. They're dangerous, and it's the Shadowhunters' job to hunt them down and kill them, returning them to their home dimension."

"Cool," Amy said, looking impressed. "So are you guys, like, superheroes or something? How do you join? Can I become a Shadowhunter, too?"

"No," Seokjin laughed, "sadly you're too old to become a Shadowhunter. We only take in minors, because the change will be too dangerous otherwise. You wouldn't survive."

"Oh," Amy pouted, disappointed. "Wait, the change?"

"Yes. Shadowhunters are not normal humans - they are descendants of Angels, the Nephilim that the Bible talks about. In order to become one of them, you need to take an oath and drink from the Mortal Cup, and if you survive the process you will become a Shadowhunter. But you'd need training before you can do that, and as Seokjin said, the process is reserved for children and teenagers."

"Hmm," Jihoon hummed. He narrowed his eyes at Namjoon. "You keep talking about the Shadowhunters as if you're not one of them. What are you, then?"

Namjoon's eyes widened at the man's acute observation. He'd chosen to go incognito today, hair and eyes both a normal, dark brown. He looked just like a normal human, or maybe even a Shadowhunter except for his lack of runes.

"I'm not," he admitted. "I'm what you would call a warlock, I guess."

Ailee blanched. "Wait, there are warlocks?" she gasped. "Then, are there, like, vampires and werewolves as well? I've seen fairies around, and I think I even saw a mermaid once, but..."

"Yeah," Namjoon nodded shyly. "Warlocks exist, and so do vampires and werewolves. The fairies you saw were probably Pixies - were they tiny little things with cute faces?"

"Yeah," Amy nodded eagerly. "They were so adorable, but one just about bit my finger off when I tried to touch them."

"Yeah, Pixies have wickedly sharp teeth," Seokjin grinned. "But they're just one type of Faerie. The Fair Folk, they're known for their beauty and fair skin, and the Seelie Court mostly resemble human beings."

"Interesting," Woozi murmured, eyes flashing as his mind raced a mile a minute. He was extremely smart, a genius some might say, and the countless possibilities that all this new information opened up was exciting his hyperactive mind.

"Anyways," Seokjin coughed, "I know this is all probably a lot to take in. But the reason I called you here today was actually because of Seyeon."

Both couples sobered up, the mood turning more serious as Ailee and Woozi nodded, their gazes sharp and focused. They cared a lot for their adoptive child. They worried a lot about her, especially since her Sight seemed to be much stronger than theirs.

Jihoon saw the least, they'd explained to Seokjin. He mainly saw the more obvious things, such as the goblin he'd chased away for Ailee. He was also able to see ghosts, he'd said, and sometimes he saw flashes of the future in his dreams.

That was normal. Seokjin believed Woozi probably had fey blood in his veins, judging from his fair skin and his cat like eyes. It would make sense for him then to be wiser and farsighted than others, which could also explain his dreams.

Ailee was probably descended from Nephilim, he also believed. Her whole demeanor screamed confidence and strength, and she moved with a sort of unconscious grace that all Shadowhunters had. Ailee was more resistant to glamours. She said she was able to see a lot of things that other people saw as something different, and she'd found that when she had her eyes half-closed, she could also see the world as other mundanes did. She wasn't able to see ghosts or see the future, either.

Seyeon, however, saw even more than Amy did. The concerned couple explained how they'd often caught their adoptive daughter speaking into thin air, saying she was talking to a friend of hers. She could see straight through glamours, and she often got startled and disturbed over seemingly trivial episodes, that she claimed was full of supernatural activity. Jihoon and Ailee worried that she might fall into danger one day because of her Sight.

"It's possible," Seokjin sighed heavily. "People like you are rare - it's amazing that all three of you have the Sight when you're not biologically related."

"Is it that unsual?" Jihoon asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Well," Seokjin said, "there are more Sighted mundanes than you would think, for sure. But the thing is, even if they have the Sight, most of them will ignore what they see, brushing them off as illusions or misunderstandings. They _choose_ to be fooled by glamours, because it shows them what they want to see. You two were really lucky to have met each other, and Seyeon meeting the two of you - it's nothing short of a miracle."

"What can we do to keep her safe?" Ailee asked, sounding slightly desperate. She felt a wave of crippling fear at the thought of her little girl falling victim to some terrible demon that she would be unable to even see, let alone protect her from.

"I'd like to offer to train Seyeon," Seokjin said carefully, watching the couple's reactions. Woozi had already guessed about his proposal, he noticed, judging from the man's unfazed expression. Ailee, on the other hand, seemed delighted.

"Oh, would you?" she gasped, clapping her hands together softly. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"

Namjoon cleared his throat, exchanging a slightly concerned look with his boyfriend. "Amy, you must understand, this means she would be training to become a Shadowhunter," he hold her, pausing to let it all sink in properly. 

"She's too young right now, but once she's old enough she would be invited to join the Shadowhunter Academy, which is in Idris, the hometown of all Shadowhunters. She would become Nephilim," he rumbled in his deep, calming voice. "She wouldn't be a normal mundane child anymore. Are you ok with that?"

Ailee was silent for a moment, thinking it through carefully. Woozi squeezed her hand and she smiled gratefully at him. The two exchanged a long look before turning back to face Seokjin.

"It's her choice," Amy replied finally. "If she wishes to become one of you, we will support her fully, but if she refuses, I hope that you won't force us to push her to accept."

Seokjin breathed a sigh of relief. "I wouldn't dream of it," he told her.

 

Meanwhile, Seyeon was being shown around the Institute by the mischievous 95 liners. All four of them had practically fallen in love with the little girl within the first 10 minutes of their acquaintance. Hwasa was the only one that had really met Seyeon before, Jimin only having caught a quick glance before becoming distracted by the fight.

"Hello~" Wheein cooed at the cute child that Hwasa led towards the little group. "My name is Wheein! It's nice to meet you!"

Seyeon nodded and smiled shyly, hands twisting in the pretty knitted skirt her mum had dressed her in.

"Howdy, Seyeon! The name's Taehyung, but you can just call me TaeTae!" Taehyung boomed, lifting the surprised little girl up and swinging her around, making her giggle dizzily.

"Tae! Let her down!" Jimin scolded, giving Seyeon a huge smile once she was set back on her feet. "Hello, Seyeon! Do you remember me?"

Seyeon's eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. "Thank you," she told him in a sweet, clear voice. "You saved me from the monster!" She looked him over anxiously. "Are you alright?" she asked, big eyes filled with worry. "You got hurt! Is it still very sore?"

"No, don't worry," Jimin reassured her, crouching down to meet her eyes. "See?" he asked, rolling up his sleeves to show her his smooth, unbroken skin. "It's all better, now."

Seyeon's small hands fluttered wonderingly over the black marks that spiraled up and down his arms. "Pretty," she breathed. Jimin smiled.

"They're called marks," he told her. "They're magical."

Seyeon stared up at him. "Magic?" she asked, excitement clear on her face. The four Shadowhunters laughed.

"Yeah," Taehyung chuckled, taking her by the hand. "We're all special people, here. There's a lot of really amazing stuff, do you want to see?"

Seyeon nodded eagerly, squeezing his hand and skipping eagerly in place.

"Come on, Seyeon, we'll show you around," Wheein laughed. She led the group towards the Institute's library, where there were all sorts of battle trophies displayed in glass cases and hung on the walls.

"This is the library," Hwasa introduced, presenting the room with a wide sweep of her arm. Seyeon's eyes grew huge as she took in the domed glass ceiling and rounded walls, the shelves upon shelves of books leading all the way up to the ceilings and the displays of strange and mystical objects.

"Ooh!!" Seyeon squealed, bounding over to a huge glass case in which a pair of traditional hanbok was displayed. The beautiful, colorful outfits were modified for Shadowhunter use, with hidden pockets for witchlights, cleverly placed straps and sheaths for Seraph blades and throwing knives, an armband to hold a stele and examples of numerous innovative ways they could turn the many accessories into deadly demon hunting tools. "Did they really wear these?" she gasped, nose pressed up against the case in awe.

Hwasa laughed. "Not these, precisely, but the Korean Shadowhunters back then wore similar clothing, yes," she explained.

"Wow," Seyeon breathed. Jimin giggled when he saw her breath fogging up the glass, little nose and cute chubby cheeks smushed against the case.

"Their fans were the coolest!" Wheein exclaimed, pointing at the decorative fan the female mannequin was holding. "They were laced with electrum, so that they could be used as weapons. Their edges were razor sharp, and they could electrocute anyone you attacked them with."

"And they were pretty, too," Hwasa put in, grinning. "I have my own fan, actually. I use it in the summer, when it gets too hot to wear anything thicker than a tank top and shorts. You can't really hide anything in those, so I make do with accessories."

"Yeah, you don't want to be on the receiving side of Hwasa's kick when she's wearing her killer heels," Taehyung put in. "They're deadly, and I mean that quite literally."

Hwasa made a clawing motion at him, growling and snapping her teeth playfully.

The little group spent the next few hours happily exploring the Institute. Seyeon was mightily impressed by their dancing skills - Jimin smirked, pleased, when Seyeon gushed over his little demonstration in their practice room, her eyes wide and shining with respect and awe.

Yoongi, Hoseok and Jungkook joined them for dinner, which was a cheerful, loud affair with too many people talking over each other and tons of delicious food, courtesy of Seokjin, Ailee and Yoongi. Amy was a formidable cook, clean and precise in her movements as she whirled round the kitchen. Seokjin was a more experimental chef, going by feel and improvising when they were lacking ingredients. Yoongi was more of an assistant, helping the two by silently chopping up the vegetables and preparing the meat, stirring the soup and making sure nothing was burning in the oven.

Seyeon and Taehyung sat together, giggling over things only the two of them knew about as they whispered to each other. Jungkook felt a little left out, but forgave them instantly when Seyeon turned to him with an adorable smile, holding out a slightly smushed, oddly shaped potato cupped in her small hands and exclaiming, "Bunny!"

Both Jimin and Wheein cooed at them, grinning at Jungkook's conflicted expression as he accepted the gift. He was touched by her gesture but he couldn't help but pout at the bunny reference. The potato did look like a rabbit though, he had to admit. He met Taehyung's laughing eyes and grinned ruefully. "Thank you, Seyeon," he murmured to the little girl who beamed at him before turning back to her plate.

Yoongi had done a double take when he'd first seen Woozi - he looked like a smaller, slightly different version of himself, especially since he was blond. Yoongi had had a blond phase himself, not too long ago. The more he got to know him, though, the less he thought they looked alike. It was more that they had a similar aura, instead. He was delighted to find that they shared the same kind of musical interests and that the other was so smart. They were similar in personality, as well. Just like a cat, Amy had described fondly and Jimin had agreed immediately, delighted to find someone who'd had the same thought as he had. He, Jihoon, and Namjoon spent the entire meal talking about music, while Ailee chatted with the girls and Seokjin. Seyeon was having a tremendous time with Taehyung, Jungkook, Jimin and Hoseok. They decided to play a game after finishing their dessert, shrieking with laughter as they chased each other around the large dining room. Ailee and Woozi both looked extremely relieved that their little girl was getting along so well with the Shadowhunters, and both thanked them again and again for protecting her from the demon and for offering to train and protect her in the future.

Seyeon agreed in a heartbeat when she was asked whether she wanted to join the Institute or not. Seokjin was a little worried that she decided too quickly, worrying that she might change her mind in the future and regret having agreed, but Ailee put his mind at ease, telling him that Seyeon was not someone to agree to such a huge decision without thinking about it first. She was a quick witted, sharp little lady, and they could trust her to make her own decisions, even at the age of 10.

Since she was so young, they decided that she wouldn't live in the Institute with them, but stay with her parents instead. She would come over for a couple of hours of lessons and training every day after school, and stay the night on weekends. She'd be allowed to decide whether or not she wished to join the Shadowhunter Academy once she turned 16.

 

All of them were delighted to have a child in the Institute. Since they were all around the same age, with Jungkook having a mere 5 year age difference with Seokjin, it was new and exciting to suddenly have a little girl, just 10 years old, among them.

"It feels like I'm suddenly a big sister," Moonbyul whispered to Yongsun, watching Seyeon tackle Jungkook to the ground with Taehyung's help, tickling him mercilessly as he wheezed for help.

"It reminds me of when Tae was that age," Yongsun whispered back, smiling fondly at the memory. "He was such a handful, that little rascal. And wherever he went, so did Jimin, so it was like having two little brothers at once."

Both girls grinned as they recalled the past. Jimin and Taehyung had been twin unstoppable forces of nature, wreaking havoc through the institute as their exasperated parents tried to keep them in line.

"Hobi and Yoongi were nowhere near as troublesome," Yongsun mused. "and Seokjin, of course, never gave our parents any trouble at all. Except for the amount he ate." She grinned wrily, glancing over at her taller younger brother. "He ate like a horse. Still does." She made a face.

Moonbyul laughed. "It's no wonder he grew up to be so tall," she chuckled. "And aren't you leaving someone out, here?"

"Huh?" Yongsun asked, confused. Moonbyul gave her a pointed look.

"You and I weren't exactly model children, either," she told her, and Yongsun grinned.

"Oh," she laughed, "right. True."

Yongsun had been a fierce little girl, all sass and backtalk. Her pretty looks and the princess dresses she'd loved to wear had been a stark contrast to her constant wisecracking, and her parents had lost their temper more than once. She'd also been very emotional and imaginative, though, and she'd had a soft spot for animals of any kind.

Moonbyul was quite the contrary, tomboyish in her manners and actions, preferring to run and play with the boys than stay inside the Institute. She was honest and straightforward with her words, no sarcasm at all. Everything she did was from the heart, and anyone could see that that heart was bigger than the sun and moon. She despised dresses and skirts; her favorite outfit was a pair of baggy dungarees and welly boots.

When the two of them had first met, they'd hated each other. They were too different - Yongsun was too cold and aloof to anyone she didn't know, and Moonbyul was too loud and energetic for Yongsun. The fact that Solar and Seokjin had spent a lot of time in Idris with their grandparents didn't help at all. When the siblings had finally moved back to Seoul, it had taken a long time for the two girls to realize that their first impressions weren't all that there was to the other, after all. Once they got past their differences and started talking properly, they'd quickly become best friends. An unlikely pair, the two of them had been almost as troublesome as Taehyung and Jimin, always running away from their parents and sneaking out to have adventures at night.

"I guess we did cause a lot of trouble when we were kids," Yongsun murmured, and Seokjin snorted as he passed by, overhearing her.

"Understatement of the century," he shot at her, sticking out his tongue, and she gave his butt a swift kick in retaliation.

Moonbyul giggled, wrapping her arm around her best friend's waist and pulling her back. Yongsun relaxed immediately, leaning her head on Moonbyul's shoulder and allowing herself to sink deeper into the couch.

"Taehyung's still a child, though," she murmured quietly, watching her little brother squeak and jump a foot in the air when Jungkook pounced at him from behind the door, Seyeon on his shoulders giggling and clutching at his hair for balance.

"They're all still children," Moonbyul countered, rolling her eyes. "Even Yoongi, although he acts like a grandpa most of the time. Seokjin is the only grown up one in this institute, to be honest. Apart from us, of course."

"And Namjoon," she added as an afterthought, glancing over at the warlock, who was currently lying on his back with four kittens crawling over him, purring just as loudly as the cats as Seokjin ran his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. "Actually," Moonbyul sighed, "I take that back. Namjoon is just as much a kid as the rest of them."

 

 

 

_Author's Note: I never actually thought about shipping Woozi and Ailee together until I read this fic,[Train To Busan ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10652070)by TheOrgasmicSeke._

_The two of them were so cute together that I actually looked them up, and guess what hahaha_

  

  

_They actually look pretty good togetherrrr <3_

_So yeah, sorry for all you that ship either Jicheol (Seungcheol = S.Coups) or Soonhoon (Soonyoung = Hoshi haha) or any other Seventeen ship, but I really like this one! ^^_

__

_This is a couple dressed in traditional Hanbok._

_It's beautiful, isn't it?_

 

  

_The male nobles were dressed like this._

_And just because I loved the drama Hwarang, here's our TaeTae dressed in traditional Hanbok._

 

__

_Such a cutie ohmygosh_

__

_Left: Yoongi, Right: Woozi._

_They're so alike, yet somehow they're not alike at all. I think that more than their similarly pale skin, small faces and physical stature, it's because they're both small (don't tell them I said that! lol), musical geniuses, and have similar personalities that they're often called father and son or identical twins. Woozi said himself that he doesn't like being called a mini Suga, though, (and honestly, who would like that?) so please, let's not compare the two! Saying they look alike is fine, but saying Woozi is a second Suga is slightly insulting, don't you think? Jihoon should be acknowledged for his own wonderful self and not as a 'second' anyone. Just like I don't really like anyone calling Ailee Korea's Beyonce, even if it's a huge compliment. Beyonce is Beyonce, and Ailee is Ailee. Let's not compare two completely different people! ^^_

__

_These two are adorable, I swear. But they would both be offended if I called them cute, I know.. hahaha_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH I'm sorry guys! It's been exactly one month since the last chapter!  
> And I know this chapter is sort of disappointing, compared to the wait... It's a filler, I guess, but on the other hand it was also a really necessary chapter.  
> I'll try to update more often, I'm really sorry for taking so long all the time.  
> I know that I've been updating my other (new) fic regularly once a week, but that's just because I already had the chapters for that one all written out! All I need to do is clear up some parts and add some little bits and pieces here and there, and it's good to go, but for this fic, I need to write the whole chapter out from scratch and I'm not easily satisfied with the things I do write, so I end up rewriting and erasing and rewriting, again and again and again. Which takes a lot of time. Forgive me T^T...  
> I hope you liked this chapter, nonetheless! Have a nice week everyone<3


	17. Announcement

Dear readers/subscribers,

I’m really sorry for having made you wait so long.

There have been a few major events in my life and I haven’t been writing at all for the last half year, almost.

My dad, who was suffering from cancer, passed away not too long ago. Also, Uni is getting harder and harder to keep up with, and I just haven’t had the time or motivation to keep writing.

Also, I’ve been rather stuck with this fic lately, I just haven’t been able to keep my creative juices flowing. I’m not giving up entirely though, I’ll try to complete and update this fic one day soon. Sorry for everything.

I don’t want to get your hopes up and let you down by not updating regularly, so I’m writing this note to explain my absence.

I got a comment on another one of my fics today asking if I was ok and encouraging me to keep writing, and that was what reminded me I was supposed to be uploading my fics regularly. I want to thank that person so much for the comment, it really helped me and gave me some motivation to start writing again, so I’m going to try my best. As I said, though, please don’t expect much because I’m painfully slow when it comes to writing... :(

Anyways, thank you for reading and supporting this fic and sorry again! 

-ShootiNgSt4r <3

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on Asianfanfics by LadyMidnight :)


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